File photo of a security guarding the entrance of the oil processing plant of Aramco in Abqaiq. AFP
State media reports fires that broke out after the strikes at two separate locations have been brought under control
Fires broke out at two Saudi Aramco oil facilities after drones struck them early on Saturday, the kingdom’s interior ministry said.
“At 4:00 a.m. the industrial security teams of Aramco started dealing with fires at two of its facilities in Abqaiq and Khurais as a result of… drones,” the ministry said in a statement carried by the official Saudi Press Agency. “The two fires have been controlled.”
The statement added that an investigation had been launched after the attack in the kingdom’s Eastern Province but did not specify the source of the drones.
Last month, an attack claimed by Yemen’s Houthi rebels sparked a fire at Aramco’s Shaybah natural gas liquefaction facility but no casualties were reported by the company.
In recent months, the Houthi rebels have carried out a spate of cross-border missile and drone attacks targeting Saudi air bases and other facilities in what it says is retaliation for a Saudi-led air war on rebel-held areas of Yemen. There was no immediate claim of responsibility from the rebels for Saturday’s attacks.
Tensions in the Gulf have soared since May, with U.S. President Donald Trump calling off airstrikes against Iran at the last minute in June after it downed a U.S. drone. The United States and Saudi Arabia have also blamed Iran for multiple attacks on tankers in the Gulf.