Fire and smoke seen near Aramco facility in Riyadh, Reuters witness says
A witness told Reuters a large plume of smoke and fire was seen rising near an Aramco facility in Riyadh on Saturday; Saudi authorities and Aramco had not confirmed the fire, and no group had claimed responsibility.
A large plume of smoke and fire was seen rising in the vicinity of an Aramco facility in Riyadh on Saturday, a witness told Reuters, in the latest sign of escalation around Saudi Arabia’s energy infrastructure.
There was no immediate confirmation from Saudi authorities about the fire, and Aramco did not immediately respond to a request for comment. No group had claimed responsibility for Saturday’s fire.
Reuters said the fire comes amid escalating hostilities between Saudi Arabia and Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis, who have stepped up attacks on Saudi cities and energy infrastructure.
The Houthis said last week they had attacked Saudi Aramco facilities in Yanbu with missiles and drones. Saudi Arabia said at the time that it had intercepted six ballistic missiles fired by the Houthis towards Taif and the Yanbu area, but did not report damage to Aramco facilities.
The reports were carried by multiple outlets on Saturday, including the Straits Times, the Times of Israel and Dawn, all citing the Reuters account. Saudi authorities had not publicly confirmed the cause of the fire or whether the facility itself was damaged.
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