RIYADH- Yemen´s armed Houthi movement said on Wednesday it had launched adrone strike on a facility belonging to oil giant Saudi Aramco in southernSaudi Arabia -though the company said its plants there were operating”normally and safely”.
The Houthis´ Al-Masirah TV channel did not say when the attack took placeor give details of any damage.
“The air force announced the execution of air strikes with the Qasef-1aircraft on Aramco in Jizan (province),” the channel said on its Twitteraccount, referring to a drone the Houthis unveiled last year.
Saudi Aramco operates a 400,000-barrel-per-day refinery in Jizan, part of anew economic city on the Red Sea.
Al-Masirah said the Houthis had also launched an attack with the same modelof drone on the airport of Abha in neighbouring Asir province.
Saudi Arabia and a coalition of mostly Gulf Arab states intervened inYemen´s civil war in 2015 to try and push back the Houthis after themovement drove the internationally recognized government into Saudi exile.
The Houthis have stepped up ballistic missile attacks on the kingdom inwhat it says is retaliation for the air raids.
They have frequently claimed attacks, including on Aramco facilities, thatSaudi Arabia and its main ally the United Arab Emirates have either saiddid not happen or were intercepted.
The group unveiled what it said was a series of drones, including theQasef-1, at a ceremony last year.