DUBAI, Sept 4 (Reuters) – A ballistic missile attack targeting Saudi Arabia’s oil-rich eastern region was intercepted on Saturday, a Saudi-led coalition fighting the Houthi group said in a statement. Yemen in a statement from Saudi state media.
The missile was intercepted on the town of Dammam, according to a source familiar with the matter who refused to be named and according to social media reports.
The coalition blamed the attack on Houthi forces aligned with Iran. There were no immediate claims of liability in the media managed by Houthi.
The coalition also said it intercepted and destroyed ballistic missiles heading towards Jazan and Najran, both in the southern part of the country.
The coalition also previously reported the interception of three explosive-laden drones aimed at the Kingdom.
In eastern Saudi Arabia there is significant oil infrastructure, which has previously been attacked by airstrikes. An attack in September 2019 against two Aramco plants in the east temporarily caused half of the country’s oil production.
Yemen’s houthis, which regularly launch drones and missiles into the kingdom, have claimed responsibility for several attacks on Saudi oil facilities in the past.
A source familiar with the matter said there was no impact on the facilities of the state-controlled Saudi oil giant Aramco and that the attack took place outside Aramco’s facilities.
The Saudi-led military coalition intervened in Yemen in 2015, supporting the forces of the ousted government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi fighting the Houthis.
Reports by Maher Chmaytelli and Saeed Azhar; Additional reports by Nayera Abdallah in Cairo, edited by Lisa Barrington Edited by Andrew Cawthorne and Sonya Hepinstall
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