Ansarullah say targeted Saudi oil giant Aramco, airport, refinery
Yemen’s Ansarullah resistance movement said on Wednesday its forces targeted facilities belonging to Saudi oil giant Aramco as well as Riyadh airport, as they vowed to conduct more attacks.
"The Yemeni Armed Forces carried out a high-quality military operation targeting Aramco in Dhahran, in the Eastern Province, King Khalid International Airport, and the Aramco refinery in Riyadh. This was carried out using a large number of ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and drones," military spokesperson Yahya Saree said, adding "operations toward Saudi depths will continue in the coming days, targeting Saudi enemy airports and oil facilities".
Saudi Arabia, the world's top crude oil exporter, has in recent days come under sustained attack in a dramatic escalation in the war with Yemen’s resistance movement.
It has hit back with strikes against the group's stronghold in the Yemeni capital Sana’a, which for years has been under their grip.
Earlier, a Saudi energy ministry official said a building belonging to Aramco in Dhahran was struck, resulting in a "limited fire" but "no casualties or fatalities".
Dhahran is home to Aramco's headquarters, a vast complex comprising numerous buildings and residential compounds.
Most strikes on Saudi Arabia have targeted infrastructure on the outskirts of the capital, but the barrages appear to be getting closer to the city center.
The Saudi-led coalition meanwhile struck oil sites across western Yemen, with spokesman Turki Al-Malki saying the attacks targeted facilities used to supply Ansarullah’s effort to "threaten the kingdom, Yemen, the southern Red Sea and waterways".
Saudi Arabia has supported Yemen's government in south militarily against Ansarullah since 2015 in a long-running civil war that has created a humanitarian crisis.
The latest escalation follows a strike on Riyadh's international airport on Saturday that left 13 people dead in the worst attack on the kingdom since 2015.
The Saudi cabinet vowed in a meeting led by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman that it "will not allow its security or freedom of navigation in the Red Sea and Bab al-Mandab Strait to be threatened".
Many countries have issued travel warnings to their citizens in Saudi Arabia, with France telling its nationals on Tuesday to avoid Riyadh, Jeddah and Dammam airports.