Yemen’s Houthi rebels have claimed responsibility for an attack on Aramco’s oil depot in Jeddah, which caused fires in two storage tanks.
The rebels used drones and missiles to attack the facility, on 26 March 2022. No casualties have been reported. The Royal Saudi Air Defense Forces intercepted nine incoming attacks. The attacks were widely condemned by governments around the world.
The incident threatened the weekend’s Formula 1 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, which was due to take place nearby, but the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA) and Formula 1 said in a joint statement that they had been given ‘detailed assurances that the event is secure’ in discussions with the Saudi government authorities, and the event went ahead as planned.
Houthi forces attack targets in Saudi Arabia as part of an ongoing conflict following an intervention by a Saudi-led coalition force in Yemen in 2015, after Houthi forces ousted the pro-Saudi president Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi. The latest attack was not the first on the North Jeddah bulk plant, which was also hit in November 2020, and other facilities in Ras Tanura and Jazan have also been targeted.
(Source: Tank Storage Magazine)