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Yemen hits Saudi oil facilities in response to Riyadh’s bombing campaign
The Yemeni Armed Forces on Tuesday launched attacks on four cities in Saudi Arabia, setting oil installations ablaze in what appeared to be a significant expansion of the war in the Middle East.
The military operations were conducted in response to Riyadh’s three-day bombing campaign that included a deadly attack on a Yemeni prison.
Yemen’s Armed Forces spokesperson Brigadier General Yahya Saree said in a statement that dozens of ballistic missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) struck Aramco infrastructure in the cities of Abha, Najran, and Jizan, as well as the King Khalid Air Base in Khamis Mushait.
The unprecedented escalation comes in response to 121 Saudi airstrikes launched over the past 72 hours against multiple Yemeni governorates, including Ma'rib, Al-Bayda, Al-Hudaydah, Taiz, and Al-Jawf.
The most devastating of these attacks targeted the central prison in the Al-Hazm district of Al-Jawf Province.
According to the Yemeni Ministry of Public Health and Population, the airstrike left 14 casualties: seven people were killed, including six inmates and a visiting child, and seven others were wounded, including a female visitor.
General Saree emphasized that Saudi Arabia has launched these new rounds of airstrikes and committed further massacres in tandem with a tight, suffocating blockade against its southern neighbor.
He warned that the Yemeni military will not let the aggression go unanswered, promising even stronger and wider strikes if the attacks continue.
Riyadh calls for halt to strikes
A Saudi Foreign Ministry statement said that the country would “take all necessary measures to defend its sovereignty”, demanding a halt to the Yemeni strikes on Saudi territory and oil tankers in the Red Sea. Sausi Arabia said that more than 70 people were wounded in Yemen’s attacks.
The strikes come after weeks of escalating clashes between Yemen’s Ansarullah movement and Saudi-backed government forces in Yemen, which shattered a four-year truce in the country's civil war.
Fighting has raged on multiple fronts including Yemen's west coast, with Saudi-backed Yemeni forces saying they have made territorial gains in the provinces of Hodeida, Taiz and Baydah.
The Yemeni military reiterated its commitment to the "siege for a siege" equation.
"All the actions, attacks, and troop buildups of the Saudi enemy will not intimidate our beloved country," the Armed Forces declared, vowing to continue operations deep inside Saudi territory until the aggression ceases and the blockade is fully lifted.
On July 20, the Sana'a government imposed a maritime blockade on Saudi Arabia in the Red Sea, targeting vessels associated with the kingdom.
This move was announced as a direct countermeasure to the oppressive 12-year land, air, and sea blockade imposed on Yemen by Riyadh.
The current flare-up is the latest chapter in a devastating war that began in March 2015, when Saudi Arabia and a coalition of allies launched a comprehensive military offensive and blockade against Yemen.