Houthi rebels claim attacks in Saudi Arabia

A Houthi military spokesman on Friday claimed a series of attacks on several Saudi military sites and oil facilities, on the sixth anniversary of the kingdom's entry into Yemen's years long civil war.

Some of the attacks were acknowledged by Saudi officials who said fuel tank at an oil facility in the Kingdom had caught fire after being struck by Yemen's Houthi rebels.

The assault at Jizan in southwest Saudi Arabia near the border with Yemen came came during what Saudi defence officials described as a barrage of eight bomb-carrying drones launched by the Houthi rebels.

"The armed forces have targeted vital headquarters and institutions that belong to the Saudi enemy in a joint military operation, the operation of 'National Resilience Day', with 18 drones and 8 ballistic missile," said Houthi military spokesman Brig. Gen. Yehia Sarie in a televised speech.

"Several Aramco sites were targeted in the cities of Jizan, Ras Tanura and Rabigh," he added.

The kingdom has faced an increasing number of such assaults and the tempo hasn't slowed since it offered a cease-fire deal to the Houthis on Monday.

The attack in Jizan, some 970 kilometres (600 miles) southwest of Riyadh on the Red Sea, struck a distribution facility just after 9 p.m. Thursday, the Saudi Energy Ministry said in a statement carried by the state-run Saudi Press Agency.

Saudi Arabia did not specifically identify the area struck.

However, Jizan is home to a new refinery and port facilities for the energy giant Saudi Arabian Oil Co.

The refinery, with a capacity of 400,000 barrels a day, sent its first shipment abroad last year.

Jizan and its new refinery long have been targeted by Yemen's Houthi rebels in their campaign against the kingdom.

However, satellite pictures from Planet Labs Inc. taken Friday morning and analyzed by The Associated Press did not immediately appear to show any damage at that facility.

Sarie also claimed the rebels launched another salvo of 12 drones and eight ballistic missiles at King Abdulaziz Air base in Dammam, as six drones also struck military sites in Asir and Najran provinces.

The Saudi-led coalition entered Yemen's war on March 25, 2015, as the Houthis threatened to take Yemen's port city of Aden and completely overrun the country's internationally recognized government.

The Saudis promised that the offensive — the brainchild of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman — would be over in short order.

Six years later, the fighting rages on.

The war has killed some 130,000 people, including over 13,000 civilians slain in targeted attacks, according to the Armed Conflict Location & Event Project. Tens of thousands of children have died of starvation and disease.

The war also has turned into a regional conflict, with the Saudis using U.S.-made weaponry in internationally criticized airstrikes killing civilians, and Iran being linked to weapons used by the Houthis to target the kingdom.

On Monday, Saudi Arabia offered a new cease-fire proposal to the Houthis.