Houthi military spokesman Yahya Sarea said on Friday that Yemen’s Houthis attacked a Saudi Aramco oil facility in Jeddah as part of a wave of drone and missile assaults as a huge cloud of smoke was seen near the Formula One venue in the city.
“We did several attacks with drones and ballistic missiles,” the Iran-backed Houthi rebels said in a statement, including an “Aramco installation in Jeddah (and) vital installations in Riyadh”.
The attacks came as Saudi Arabia still leads a coalition battling the Iran-backed Houthis, who seized Yemen’s capital of Sanaa in September 2014.
The kingdom, which entered the war in Yemen in 2015, has been internationally criticised for its airstrikes killing that have killed scores of civilians, something the Houthis point to as they launch drones, missiles and mortars into the kingdom.
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The North Jiddah Bulk Plant sits just southeast of the city’s international airport, a crucial hub for Muslim pilgrims heading to Mecca. Videos posted online of the blaze corresponded to known geographic features around the plant.
The second-ever Saudi Arabian Grand Prix in Jiddah is taking place on Sunday, though concerns had been raised by some over the recent attacks targeting the kingdom.
The F1 said in a statement that: “The position at the moment is that we are waiting for further information from the authorities on what has happened.”
Saudi state television acknowledged attacks in the town of Dhahran targeting water tanks that damaged vehicles and homes. Another attack targeted an electrical substation in an area of southwestern Saudi Arabia near the Yemeni border, state TV said.
(With inputs from agencies)
