Yemen’s Houthis attack Saudi refinery after kingdom signs defence pact

Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis have ⁠attacked Saudi Aramco’s Jazan refinery, they said on Sunday, two days after the kingdom signed a defence pact with Turkey and Pakistan in response to growing regional instability from the US-Israeli war on Iran.

The alliance with Sunni Muslim US allies, Turkey and Pakistan, is intended to strengthen collective deterrence against any act of aggression and stipulates that an armed attack against any of the three would be regarded as an attack on all.

It was not clear whether ‌or how either Pakistan or Turkey would join in any Saudi response to the latest attacks.

The Houthis declared a naval blockade against Saudi Arabia in the Red Sea last month, citing what they said was a Saudi siege on them, an allegation Riyadh denies.

The Saudi energy ministry said a fire had broken out at the refinery but was later extinguished with no injuries and authorities were dealing with the incident, without giving a cause.

The Houthis used a drone to target the refinery, military spokesman Yahya Saree posted on social media. They had struck Aramco sites before in Jazan, which processes 400,000 barrels of crude oil per day in southwestern Saudi Arabia. They had also hit Yanbu ⁠on the Red Sea.