Yemen rebels claim attacks on Saudi oil facilities

Yemen's Iran-backed Huthi rebels said Wednesday they had launched missile and drone attacks on Saudi targets, including oil facilities belonging to the energy giant Aramco. Huthi forces attacked "Aramco (facilities) in Jizan, Abha and Jizan airports, Khamis Mushait base and vital targets deep inside Saudi Arabia with a large number of missiles and drones," spokesman Yahya al-Saree told a press conference in the capital Sanaa.

Saree did not specify when the strikes were carried out and neither Aramco nor the Saudi-led coalition backing the Yemeni government immediately responded to requests for confirmation. Saree said the attacks were "in retaliation for the escalation of airstrikes by the enemy" during the recent fighting between government and rebel troops to the north and east of Sanaa.

Attacks on Aramco oil facilities last September caused massive damage, halving the kingdom's crude output temporarily and creating havoc on global oil markets. The Huthis claimed responsibility for those strikes, but the United States said the attacks involved cruise missiles from Iran and amounted to "an act of war". Iran denied any involvement.