Yemenupdated 45m ago3 min read
Houthis Attack Saudi Aramco Administrative Building in Dhahran, Triggering Limited Fire
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Aramco administrative building in Dhahran struck, causing a limited fire with no injuries. Coalition intercepts missiles and drones aimed at Riyadh and Dhahran following attack.
46 outlets told this the same way.
Aramco Dhahran hit
Saudi Arabia’s Energy Ministry said an administrative building belonging to Saudi Arabia’s state-owned oil company Saudi Aramco in the eastern city of Dhahran was attacked and caused a limited fire, with authorities responding late on Tuesday and reporting no injuries or deaths. A company source told Reuters that a ballistic missile hit the Aramco headquarters complex in Dhahran, and the source said an office tower was struck and its top three floors were damaged. The Reuters source said the building was on fire, and the complex hosts a major operations centre for Aramco overseeing onshore and offshore oil rigs, pipelines, refineries and export terminals.
Houthis have for a week been firing ballistic missiles and drones at key Saudi sites in retaliation for the kingdom’s backing of government forces in Yemen’s reignited civil war, and the Saudi-led coalition said fragments of an intercepted missile fell on a residential area in Dhahran. The Houthis threatened a “harsh and painful” response to Saudi-led strikes on the Yemeni capital Sanaa, with spokesperson Yahya Saree saying targets could include the Saudi Aramco headquarters in Dhahran and an oil refinery in Riyadh.
Evacuation warnings
The Saudi-led coalition urged civilians to evacuate Yemen Petroleum Co.’s Al-Sabaha central station in the Houthi-controlled capital Sanaa ahead of a planned military operation, and the coalition released a map identifying the facility’s location.
Maj. Gen. Turki al-Maliki said the coalition would issue an evacuation alert ahead of a “precision operation,” and he urged civilians to leave the Al-Sabaha station for their safety.
Yahya Saree warned that any Saudi attack on Sanaa would meet a “harsh and painful” reprisal on Riyadh, and he also warned employees and civilians near Aramco facilities to evacuate.
The coalition spokesperson Major General Turki al-Malliki said the “Houthi militia uses the Al-Sabahah station in Sanaa and the fuel depots in direct support of its military actions and has used civilian vital resources to support its military operations and threaten international navigation.”
Al Jazeera’s team on the ground reported hearing explosions in Sanaa shortly after the evacuation warning, and the report said Houthi-affiliated media said air strikes struck an oil facility in the al-Sabah area.
Escalation and retaliation
Saudi Arabia’s energy minister Prince Abdul Aziz bin Salman told the WPC Energy Congress in Riyadh that “Our response must be equally serious,” linking the need for retaliation to deadly attacks on the kingdom’s airports and oil and gas facilities. The BBC said a Houthi missile hit another terminal, killing 13 people and forcing its closure, and it said a Pakistani man was killed in an attack on a terminal at King Khalid International Airport. Yahya Saree said the Houthis had shot down what he described as a Saudi “reconnaissance drone,” and he also vowed the Houthis would “continue their escalating operations deep inside Saudi, imposing the equation of 'a blockade for a blockade' and 'an escalation for an escalation'”.
The BBC reported that the official spokesperson for the Saudi-led coalition said it had intercepted and destroyed “two ballistic missiles launched by the Houthis towards Khamis Mushait,” and the coalition said it intercepted and destroyed drones and missiles in Riyadh and the country’s southern region. The BBC also reported that UN Secretary General António Guterres said he was “deeply shocked” by Saturday’s attack on Riyadh airport and warned that attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure were a violation of international law.