Houthi rebels strike an oil facility in the port city in an attack confirmed by Saudi authorities.
Yemen’s Houthi rebel group has said it struck a distribution station operated by oil giant Saudi Aramco with a missile in Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea city of Jeddah.
The attack was confirmed later on Monday by a Saudi official quoted by the Saudi state news agency (SPA), who said a fire broke out in a fuel tank at a petroleum products distribution station in north Jeddah “as a result of a terrorist attack with a projectile”.
The official said firefighting teams managed to extinguish the fire, with no injuries or casualties, adding that Saudi Aramco’s supply of fuel to its customers was not affected.
The oil company’s production and export facilities are mostly in Saudi’s Eastern province, more than 1,000km (621 miles) across the country from Jeddah.
Announcing the attack, a military spokesman for the Houthis warned “operations will continue”.
Yahya Sarea said the attack was carried out with a Quds-2 type winged missile. He also posted a satellite image with the label: “north Jeddah bulk plant-Saudi Aramco”.
“The strike was very accurate, and ambulances and fire engines rushed to the target,” Sarea said.
That facility is just southeast of Jeddah’s King Abdulaziz International Airport, an important site that handles incoming Muslim pilgrims en route to nearby Mecca.
Houthis say they hit oil facility in port city of Jeddah, while there was no immediate Saudi confirmation of the claim.
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