Yemen: Houthi rebel group attacks Saudi Aramco facility

SANAA

The Houthi rebel group in Yemen announced early Monday it targeted a facility of Saudi Arabia's state-owned oil company Aramco in Jeddah by a missile.

"The missile force managed to target the Aramco distribution station in Jeddah with a winged Quds 2 missile," the group's military spokesman Yahya Sarea said.

The rocket hit its target accurately and Saudi "ambulances and firefighting vehicles rushed to the targeted location," he added.

The attack came in response to the continuation of the Saudi intervention in Yemen, the spokesman said.

He warned foreign companies operating in Saudi Arabia that the group’s operations are continuing and that they should stay away from vital installations, as they are within the target list.

There was no immediate comment from the Saudi side on the incident.

Yemen has been beset by violence and chaos since 2014, when Houthi rebels overran much of the country, including the capital Sanaa. The crisis escalated in 2015 when a Saudi-led military coalition launched a devastating air campaign aimed at rolling back Houthi territorial gains.

Tens of thousands of Yemenis, including civilians, are believed to have been killed in the conflict, which has led to one of the world’s worst humanitarian crisis as millions remain at risk of starvation.

* Writing by Mahmoud Barakat in Ankara