Houthis Accuse Saudi Arabia of Strikes on Sanaa as Oil Facility Catches Fire

SANAA: Yemen's Houthis accused Saudi Arabia of launching dozens of strikes on Sanaa on Saturday, while an AFP journalist in Riyadh reported seeing flames and smoke coming from an oil facility on the outskirts of the Saudi capital. Though Saudi officials and the Houthis have not yet commented on the refinery fire, has in recent weeks launched attacks on oil facilities in the kingdom as part of where Riyadh backs the internationally recognised government. The foes have traded strikes since the and took control of the Bab al-Mandab strait in a lightning offensive. Houthi-affiliated channel Al-Masirah TV reported that "Saudi enemy aircraft" hit Sanaa with 26 strikes, after earlier reporting "Saudi aggression" against the Yemeni capital, without providing details on the targets or casualties. Two correspondents in Sanaa reported hearing loud explosions and seeing warplanes firing missiles on the city. In neighbouring Saudi Arabia, flames and smoke were seen rising on Saturday afternoon from a facility belonging to state-owned oil giant Aramco south of Riyadh, an AFP journalist said, although both the Houthis and Saudi authorities had yet to comment. The circumstances remained unclear, though the Houthis have claimed several attacks on facilities belonging to Aramco, majority-owned by the Saudi state, in recent months. The journalist reported seeing firefighters attempting to extinguish a blaze at the energy giant's Riyadh refinery, located south of the capital, while ambulances and police vehicles were stationed near the facility. The Houthis Al-Masirah channel earlier on Saturday also reported missile strikes on the telecommunications network in Yemen's northwestern governorate of Saada, one of the group's strongholds. It comes after the Houthis said that Saudi Arabia bombed the Yemeni capital itself on Thursday night for the first time since renewed fighting broke out between the two sides in July.