Saudi Arabia oil facilities ablaze after drone strikes

Multiple videos posted on social media earlier on Saturday showed an Aramco compound engulfed in flames and thick black smoke billowing from the site. In some videos, several loud bangs resembling the sound of explosions can be heard in the background.

Riyadh:Drone attacks set alight two major oil facilities run by the state-owned company Aramco in Saudi Arabia on Saturday.

According to the media report, the drones caused the fire at the refinery in the city of Abqaiq in the Kingdom's oil-rich Eastern Province, which Aramco describes as the world's largest oil processing plant, as well as the blaze at the Khurais oil field, around 150 km from Riyadh.

Although the authorities were unable to gather information about the drones involved or name of the alleged perpetrator. The fires at both sites are now under control and a probe has been launched into the alleged attacks.

Multiple videos posted on social media earlier on Saturday showed an Aramco compound engulfed in flames and thick black smoke billowing from the site. In some videos, several loud bangs resembling the sound of explosions can be heard in the background.

Houthi fighters took the responsibility for drone attacks on the Shaybah natural gas liquefaction facility in August and on other oil facilities in May. The rebel movement is fighting the Yemeni government and a Saudi-led coalition.

Yemen has been at war since 2015 when President Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi was forced to flee the capital Sanaa by the Houthis. Saudi Arabia backs Hadi and has led a coalition of regional countries against the rebels.

UN investigators said the Houthis' new UAV-X drone, found in recent months during the Saudi-led coalition war in Yemen, likely has a range of up to 1,500 kilometers.

Saudi Arabia accuses Iran of arming and directing the Houthi rebels in Yemen to launch drone and rocket attacks across the kingdom's border.