Fri, Nov 22, 2024 | Jumada al-Awwal 21, 1446 | DXB ktweather icon0°C

Saudi-led coalition thwarts Houthi attack aimed at Jeddah

The coalition also destroys a remotely piloted boat packed with explosives dispatched by the Houthis in the southern Red Sea

Published: Mon 21 Mar 2022, 12:39 AM

Updated: Mon 21 Mar 2022, 12:59 AM

  • By
  • Agencies

Top Stories

SPA

SPA

The Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen said on Sunday it had intercepted and destroyed a “hostile air target” which was aimed towards the Red Sea city of Jeddah, Saudi state media reported.

Saudi Arabia’s official news agency, SPA, shared video footages of the interception of booby-trapped missiles launched by Houthis on its Twitter handle.

Houthi militia unleashed drone and missile strikes on Saudi Arabia's energy facilities on Sunday, sparking a fire at one site.

The attacks did not cause casualties, the Saudi-led military coalition fighting in Yemen said, but struck sites belonging to one of the world's most important energy companies and damaged civilian vehicles and homes. The coalition also said it destroyed a remotely piloted boat packed with explosives dispatched by the Houthis in the busy southern Red Sea.

An aerial attack by Houthi militia struck a fuel tank at an Aramco distribution station in the port city of Jeddah and ignited a fire.

The White House condemned the attacks, blaming Iran for supplying the Houthis with missile and drone parts, as well as training and expertise.

"It is time to bring this war to a close, but that can only happen if the Houthis agree to cooperate with the United Nations," said US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan. "The United States stands fully behind those efforts."

ALSO READ:

The Saudi-led military coalition reported aerial strikes on a range of facilities: An Aramco liquified gas plant in the Red Sea port of Yanbu, an oil storage plant in Jiddah, a desalination facility in Al-Shaqeeq on the Red Sea coast and an Aramco oil facility in the southern border town of Jizan, among others.

The Saudi Press Agency shared photos of firetrucks dousing leaping flames with water and a trail of rubble wrought by shrapnel that crashed through ceilings and pocked apartment walls. Other images showed wrecked cars and giant craters in the ground.

The barrage comes days after the Saudi-based Gulf Cooperation Council invited Yemen's warring sides for peace talks in Riyadh — an offer dismissed out of hand by the Houthis, who demanded that negotiations take place in a "neutral" country.



Next Story