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RIYADH – Huthi rebels attacked a facility run by oil company Aramco in Jizan, southern Saudi Arabia, the Saudi-led military coalition fighting the rebels in Yemen said in a statement yesterday.
The rebels also hit a desalination plant in Al-Shaqeeq, said the coalition statement, quoted by the Saudi Press Agency (SPA).
The coalition said four drones launched into the southern region had been intercepted and destroyed near Yemen. That region is regularly targeted by Huthi drone and missile attacks.
It later announced that the Dhahran Al-Janoub power station, near Jizan, had also been attacked. The SPA posted photos and a video clip showing firefighters tackling a blaze at the site.
The latest announcement comes after an oil refinery in the Saudi capital Riyadh was attacked on March 10 by a drone, an operation claimed by the Huthis.
Earlier this week, the Huthis rejected an invitation from the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council to attend talks on the Yemen conflict, to be held in Riyadh from March 29.
Saudi Arabia is leading a military coalition in Yemen in support of the internationally recognized government, which has been engaged in a bloody conflict against the Huthis since mid-2014.
The war has cost hundreds of thousands of lives, directly or indirectly, and displaced millions, in what the United Nations (UN) has called the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.
On Wednesday, the UN voiced disappointment after a donors’ conference raised US$1.3 billion, far short of the US$4.27 billion target.
Huthi rebels often target airports and oil facilities in Saudi Arabia, one of the world’s largest oil exporters, against the backdrop of the kingdom’s leadership of the military coalition against them.
This latest attack comes as Aramco prepares to announce its 2021 results today.
Global oil markets are in a state of confusion over the impact of the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the effect it will have on energy supplies. – AFP, March 20, 2022
