Yemen’s Houthi rebels on Thursday claimed a drone attack on an Aramco refinery in southern Saudi Arabia, the Iran-backed group’s affiliated news agency Saba reported, as United Nations officials warned the Yemeni civil war could return in full force amid near-famine conditions.

“A military source confirmed that the Yemeni Armed Forces targeted an Aramco refinery in the Jizan region using two drones, achieving a precise hit by the grace of God,” Saba reported, referring to Houthi forces.

The agency reported that the source said the strike was a response to a Saudi “violation of Yemeni airspace and the country’s sovereignty in the Saada and Hajjah governorates.”

The source said the Houthis would “respond decisively to any violation of the country’s sovereignty or any act of aggression targeting the nation,” according to Saba.

Saudi Arabia did not immediately comment on the report.

Yemen has been mired in conflict since the Houthis seized the capital Sanaa in 2014, prompting a Saudi-led military intervention the following year to prop up the internationally recognized Yemeni government.

A UN-brokered truce in 2022 largely halted major fighting, despite expiring six months later. Efforts to turn the truce into a lasting political settlement have stalled, with the 2022 truce appearing to collapse over the past month as fighting between Iran and regional US allies flared.

On Sunday, the Houthis said they had struck an oil facility on Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea coast........

© The Times of Israel