Drone attack on oil refinery in Saudi Arabia globally condemned

By MSV On Mar 19, 2021

(FILES) This file photo taken on November 24, 2020, shows a view of a damaged silo at the Saudi Aramco oil facility in Saudi Arabia's Red Sea city of Jeddah. - A drone strike sparked a fire at a Riyadh oil refinery, in an attack claimed by Yemen's Huthi rebels as the Iran-backed insurgents made major advances on the embattled Yemeni city of Marib. (Photo by Fayez Nureldine / AFP)

A terrorist drone attack on an oil refinery in Riyadh that took place at 6 a.m. on Friday has been condemned by the international community, Arab News reported.

The resulting fire was brought under control and no one was injured. Sup- plies of petroleum and petroleum products were not affected, Arab News reported.

Saudi Arabia’s Energy Ministry strongly condemned the “cowardly attack” and said such acts, “which are repeatedly committed against vi- tal installations and civilian objects … do not target the Kingdom alone, but also target the security and stability of global energy supplies and the world’s economy.”

In eastern Saudi Arabia on March 7, a petroleum tank farm at Ras Tanura Port was attacked by a drone and shrapnel from a ballistic missile fell near Saudi Aramco’s residential neighborhood in Dhahran.

The ministry called on the international community to unite against these terrorist attacks and to confront all parties that support them.

France’s Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Ludovic Pouille condemned the attack and reiterated his country’s absolute rejection of any action that destabilizes the region’s security.

Djibouti’s Ambassador to the Kingdom Diaa-Eddin Saed Bamakhrama also strongly condemned the attack.

The Secretary-General of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Nayef Falah Mubarak Al-Hajjraf condemned the attack and affirmed that GCC countries stand with the Kingdom and support all necessary and deterrent measures taken by Saudi Arabia to protect its national capabilities and achievements.

The GCC also supports the Kingdom’s efforts to stop such acts of sabotage and terrorism, and to con- front all entities that implement it or support it, he said.

While the perpetrators of the attack have yet to be officially confirmed, Jordan’s Foreign Ministry condemned the “Houthi terrorist group’s targeting” of an oil refinery in Riyadh with drones.

Egypt condemned the attack and said it is a “direct threat to Saudi Arabia and energy supplies.”

Stéphane Dujarric, spokesperson for the UN secretary-general, said: “We’ve spoken out firmly against these drone attacks that target civilian infrastructure and target civilians and we will continue to condemn them.”