DUBAI (Reuters) – An airstrike on an oil refinery in the Saudi capital Riyadh on Friday caused a fire that was brought under control, the energy ministry said, after the Houthi group in Yemen said they were entering the site target with six drones.
The refinery is operated by state-owned oil giant Saudi Aramco. The attack, which took place at 06:05 Saudi time, did not result in injuries or deaths and did not interrupt the supply of oil or oil-derived instruments, the energy ministry said.
The Houthis said earlier in the day that they had hit a facility of Aramco in Riyadh, without naming the targets that they said were hit.
“Our armed forces carried out an operation at dawn today … with six drones aimed by the Aramco company in the capital of the Saudi enemy, Riyadh,” said Yahya Sarea, a military spokesman for Houthi. .
Aramco did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment, but said it would do so “at the earliest opportunity”.
The Iranian Houthis have intensified attacks on Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest oil exporter, in recent weeks.
Sarea said operations against Saudi Arabia would continue and escalate as long as Saudi aggression against Yemen continued.
The Saudi Ministry of Energy said that these and other attacks targeted the security and stability of the world’s energy supply, not just Saudi Arabia.
Saudi Arabia leads a military coalition that intervened in Yemen in March 2015 against Houthi forces, which ousted the internationally recognized Yemeni government in Sanaa in late 2014.
Riyadh says it intercepts most drones and missiles launched by the Houthis at airports, air bases and energy infrastructure, but some do damage.
On March 7, the coalition said an avalanche of drones and missiles was intercepted on its way to targets, including an oil depot at Ras Tanura, the site of a refinery and the world’s largest foreign oil loading facility. A residential area in Dhahran used by Saudi Aramco was also targeted.
Sarea warned ‘foreign companies and civilians’ to avoid military sites and important infrastructure.
In renewed diplomatic efforts to end the war, the United Nations and the United States urged the Houthis, who are also launching an offensive against the city of Marib in Yemen, to turn to negotiations rather than military escalation.
(Written by Lisa Barrington; Edited by Mark Heinrich)