SANAA, Aug. 14 (Xinhua) -- Yemen's Houthi group said Friday it had carried out a drone attack on a facility belonging to Saudi Arabia's state petroleum company Aramco in the southern Saudi region of Najran, the latest in a series of strikes claimed by the group against Saudi energy infrastructure.
The Houthi-run Saba news agency, citing a military source within the group, reported that a drone targeted "Aramco Najran," claiming the attack had "successfully achieved its goal."
The source said the strike was in response to an "incursion" by Saudi warplanes into the airspace over northern Yemen's Saada province, a Houthi stronghold bordering Saudi Arabia.
There was no immediate comment from Saudi authorities on the Houthi claim, and no information was immediately available on casualties or damage.
The latest claim comes amid escalating tensions between the Houthis and Saudi Arabia.
On July 20, the group announced a maritime ban on Saudi shipping, citing an alleged Saudi blockade of Houthi-held areas -- a claim that Riyadh firmly rejects.
Since then, the Houthis have claimed a series of attacks on Saudi tankers, energy facilities and airports, while also intensifying missile and drone strikes on government-held areas in Yemen.
Yemen has been mired in conflict since late 2014, when the Houthis seized the capital Sanaa and much of northern Yemen, prompting a Saudi-led coalition to intervene the following year in support of the internationally recognized Yemeni government.
A UN-brokered truce that took effect in April 2022 expired six months later without a formal extension, but a fragile de facto ceasefire has largely held until the recent escalation. ■
