Houthi attacks kill 11 in Yemen, target Saudi refinery

SANAA

(AP)

Strikes by Iran-backed Houthi rebels on Aug. 9 killed at least 11 people, a medical source in the Yemeni port city of Mokha told AFP, after an earlier drone salvo targeted a Saudi oil refinery on the Red Sea coast.

The source said three civilians and eight military personnel were killed.

Another 32 people, including six civilians, were wounded.

All civilian casualties resulted from strikes on Mokha port, which is controlled by forces aligned with Yemen’s internationally recognized, Saudi-backed government, the source added.

Earlier the same day, Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree said the group had attacked an Aramco refinery in the southwestern Saudi city of Jazan with a drone.

Saree said the attack was in response to what he described as Saudi drone incursions over Yemen’s Hajjah and Saada provinces.

The Saudi Energy Ministry separately reported a fire at an Aramco facility in Jazan. It said the blaze had been extinguished and caused no casualties but did not identify its cause.

The attacks marked the latest escalation in fighting that has threatened a U.N.-brokered truce which largely halted major hostilities in Yemen after taking effect in 2022.

The Houthis announced a maritime blockade of Saudi Arabia last month and have since targeted Saudi tankers in the Red Sea and the kingdom’s oil infrastructure.