Yemen's Houthis hit Saudi oil refinery with missile, Riyadh confirms target was direct

Yemen's Houthis hit Saudi oil refinery with missile, Riyadh confirms target was directYemen's Houthis claim attack on Aramco oil facility in Saudi Arabia. (Photo: File)Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthi rebels on Tuesday claimed a ballistic missile strike on Saudi Arabia's Ras Tanura oil refinery, the largest in the kingdom, leading to a fire at the facility. Riyadh confirmed the attack as fighting between the two sides escalated and threatened key oil supply routes.The rebels also claimed to have attacked Saudi military aircraft and repelled an advance by Saudi-backed forces near the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, a strategically important shipping corridor connecting the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden.The Houthis' military spokesperson, Yahya Saree, said the missile strike had caused a fire at the Ras Tanura complex, which includes an oil refinery and a shipping terminal on the Gulf, west of the Strait of Hormuz.The developments came amid intensifying hostilities between Yemen and Saudi Arabia, further disrupting oil supplies and raising concerns about a wider regional conflict, eight months after the Iran war began. - Ends