Yemen’s Houthi militia launched a combination of missile and drone attacks on various targets in southern and western Saudi Arabia on Saturday, all of which were stopped by air defenses of the Coalition to Restore Legitimacy in Yemen, state media reported early Sunday.
Targeted in the “a hostile attempt” were a water desalination plant in Al-Shaqeeq, a facility run by oil company Aramco in Jazan, a power station in the southern Dhahran al Janub city, a gas station in the city of Khamis Mushayt, and an Aramco plant in Yanbu, coalition statements carried by state media said.
State television al-Ekhbariya later cited the coalition as saying it had intercepted and destroyed three drones that targeted economic facilities.
The coalition also foiled an attack on an Aramco Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) facility in Yanbu, an industrial city along Red Sea coast of western Saudi Arabia, al-Ekhbariya also reported.
Coalition air defenses intercepted and destroyed the drones and missiles, which managed to cause some damage but no casualties, the Saudi Press Agency quoted a coalition statement as saying.
“We are following the launch of hostile cross-border attacks from Sanaa International Airport,” it said.
#عاجل
مقاطع فيديو وصور لبعض الأضرار المادية جراء المحاولة العدائية من قبل المليشيا الحوثية لاستهداف محطة الغاز بخميس مشيط.#واس_عام pic.twitter.com/UdEOBQmXWJ— واس العام (@SPAregions) March 19, 2022
Video footage and images posted on Twitter by the SPA showed damage on a building and cars at a facility in Khamis Mushayt.
The coalition fighting in Yemen since 2015 said the latest Houthi escalation by targeting economic and civil facilities was a response to a Gulf call for talks.
Earlier this week, the Houthis 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.
#عاجل
مقاطع فيديو وصور لبعض الأضرار المادية جراء المحاولة العدائية من قبل المليشيا الحوثية لاستهداف محطة الغاز بخميس مشيط.#واس_عام pic.twitter.com/YlUrZ76GGf— واس العام (@SPAregions) March 19, 2022
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 Houthis since mid-2014.
The war has cost hundreds of thousands of lives, directly or indirectly, and displaced millions, in what the United Nations has called the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.
The Iran-backed Houthi militia often target airports and oil facilities in Saudi Arabia, and has also attacked facilities in the United Arab Emirates.
#عاجل
مقاطع فيديو وصور لبعض الأضرار المادية جراء المحاولة العدائية من قبل المليشيا الحوثية لاستهداف محطة الغاز بخميس مشيط.#واس_عام pic.twitter.com/4nwx8k0kbG— واس العام (@SPAregions) March 19, 2022