Saudi Arabia’s Energy Ministry says an unmanned aerial aircraft has struck and subsequently ignited a fire at an oil facility in the capital of Riyadh, while claiming that the supply of petroleum and its derivatives have not been affected.
The official Saudi Press Agency, citing a statement by an energy ministry official, reported early on Friday that the attack happened at approximately 4:40 a.m. local time (0140 GMT) on Thursday and caused no deaths or injuries.
“The refinery’s operations and supplies of petroleum and its derivatives were not affected,” the statement said.
It did not specify where the attack originated from.
The drone attack comes as Saudi officials tend to depict such operations as insignificant when the scope of the damage is usually revealed later on.
The world’s top oil exporter has faced frequent retaliatory missile and drone attacks by the Yemeni armed forces, who have been defending their country against a Riyadh-led devastating military aggression and brutal siege for seven years.
Back on March 19 last year, Yemen’s army said it had successfully carried out a drone strike against a facility belonging to oil giant Aramco in Riyadh in retaliation for the kingdom’s ongoing military aggression and siege.
Yahya Saree, the spokesman for the Yemeni army, announced in a series of tweets at the time that six drones had been used in the retaliatory attack that hit the oil facility “with high precision” at dawn, without specifying the type of the UAVs and the exact location of the target.
In retaliation for the stepped-up Saudi-led military campaign and blockade, “Yemeni Armed Forces carried out at dawn the sixth operation of Shaaban with six drones targeting Aramco in the capital of the Saudi enemy, Riyadh,” the military official said.
“The General Command of the Armed Forces confirms that its operations are continuing and escalating as long as the aggression and siege continue,” Saree added.
Initially, Saudi authorities kept silent about the raid, but following Yemen’s announcement, the kingdom’s oil ministry admitted to the incident and said the drone attack had triggered a fire at the facility.
The ministry, however, claimed that the fire had been “brought under control.” It added that the attack had caused no casualties and had not disrupted oil supplies.
Source: Agencies (edited by Al-Manar English Website)
