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Updated March 20th, 2021 at 07:53 IST

Saudi Arabia: Drones struck Riyadh oil facility, igniting fire at installation

Saudi Arabia on March 19 said that drones struck an oil facility in the capital of Riyadh, igniting a fire at the installation, according to AP

Reported by: Bhavya Sukheja
Saudi Arabia
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Saudi Arabia on March 19 said that drones struck an oil facility in the capital of Riyadh, igniting a fire at the installation, according to AP. The attack caused no injuries or damage and did not disrupt oil supplies. The details about the attack remained slim and authorities did not name the impacted facility. However, Saudi ministers called on the world to stand against what they described as “terrorist and subversive aggression and those carrying them out or supporting them”. 

According to reports, earlier on Friday, Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi rebels said that they launched six drones at a facility belonging to Saudi Aramco, the kingdom’s oil giant that now has a silver of its worth traded publicly on the stock market, in Riyadh. Saudi Arabia condemned Friday’s attack, but they did not blame the Houthis. Saudi Arabia said that assault targeted the “security and stability” of the world’s energy supplies. 

It is worth mentioning that the strikes on major oil facilities in the kingdom, the world’s largest oil exporter, raise the risk of a disruption in world oil supplies. Back in 2019, a drone and missile attack struck two key Saudi oil installations and halted about half of the country’s oil supplies. Although the attack was claimed by the Houthis, both Washington and Riyadh, however, blamed Tehran for the attack. 

Yemen conflict 

Yemen's Houthi rebels have gradually increased attacks on Saudi Arabia in the past couple of years, making use of drones and other airborne weapons. Just last month, a bomb-laden drone hit a passenger aircraft in Saudi Arabia, setting it on fire. However, no casualties were reported as the aircraft was standing empty. 

The war in Yemen began in 2014 after Iran-backed Houthi rebels captured the country's capital Sana'a and most of the northern parts, including key seaports, which massively hampered imports, pushing the country into a humanitarian crisis. Saudi Arabia, an adversary of Iran, entered the war in 2015 and started airstrikes against the Houthis in an attempt to defeat the rebels and restore the government of President Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi. 

(Image: AP) 

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Published March 20th, 2021 at 07:53 IST

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