Saudi civil defence puts out fires at fuel storage tanks hit by Houthis

(Reuters) – Saudi Arabia’s civil defence has extinguished fires at two fuel storage tanks in the Red Sea port city of Jeddah that were hit in an attack by Yemen’s Houthis, state television reported on Saturday.

The Iran-aligned Houthis have escalated missile and drone strikes on the kingdom’s oil facilities in recent weeks ahead of a temporary truce for the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which starts early in April.

Friday’s attack on oil giant Aramco’s petroleum products distribution station in Jeddah, which the Houthis said they had carried out, came as Jeddah prepared to host the Formula One Saudi Arabian Grand Prix on Sunday.

The Saudi-led coalition confirmed the attack and the subsequent blaze, which did not cause any casualties.

(Reporting by Ahmed Tolba; Writing by Yasmin Hussein; Editing by Alexander Smith and Helen Popper)