Sat 14 September 2019:
Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Interior said on Saturday that drone attacks caused fires at two Saudi Aramco facilities, adding that the blazes are under control.
Drone attacks have caused fires at two major facilities run by Saudi Aramco, Saudi Arabia’s state-owned oil giant.
Citing an interior ministry spokesperson, the official Saudi Press Agency said on Saturday the blazes at the facilities in Abqaiq – home to the company’s largest oil processing plant – and Khurais were under control.
“At 4.00am (01:00 GMT) the industrial security teams of Aramco started dealing with fires at two of its facilities in Abqaiq and Khurais as a result of … drones,” it said.
The ministry did not identify the source of the attack and said investigations were ongoing. It did not specify if there were any casualties or whether operations at the two facilities had been affected.
Online videos showed smoke rising above the company’s facility in Abqaiq as what appeared to be gunfire could be heard in the background.
In recent months, Yemen’s Houthi rebels have carried out a series of similar attacks targeting Saudi air bases and other facilities in what they say is retaliation for a years-long bombing campaign by a Saudi-led military coalition on areas held by the Houthis.
The Houthis did not immediate claim responsibility for Saturday’s attacks, but their official media said it would release an “important statement” about a major drone operation in the kingdom.
Last month, an attack claimed by the Houthis sparked a fire at Aramco’s Shaybah natural gas liquefaction facility but no casualties were reported by the company.
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