Houthis Launch Wave of Attacks on Saudi Arabia's Oil Facilities

Houthi rebels in Yemen launched a series of attacks on Saudi Arabia on September 7, wounding over 70 people and causing fires at oil facilities and utilities. The attacks were a major escalation in the renewed fighting between the Houthi-rebel group and the Saudi-led coalition.

The Iranian-backed Houthi rebels targeted oil facilities connected to an alternative route, the Bab el-Mandeb, a strategic waterway off the southern tip of the Arabian Peninsula that connects the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden. The attacks hit 'civilian and economic facilities' in the Saudi cities of Abha, Jazan, Najran, and Khamis Mushait.

The Houthi military spokesman, Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree, said they fired dozens of ballistic missiles and drones at oil and economic facilities, as well as an air base in southern Saudi Arabia. The Houthis targeted Jazan City for Primary and Downstream Industries, a major industrial and logistics hub on Saudi Arabia's southwestern Red Sea coast.

Saudi Arabia's foreign minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan accused the Houthis of resorting to violence to serve their interests over those of Yemen, despite the Kingdom offering a chance to negotiate for peace. He added that the latest escalation by the Houthis against the Kingdom is part of a series of provocations and that Saudi Arabia will not hesitate to defend itself.