The Saudi Red Sea city of Yanbu, where the East West Pipeline ends, seen from the International Space Station in an undated NASA file photograph. Credit: NASA (public domain).
Yemen’s Houthis say they struck a pumping station on Saudi Arabia’s East West Pipeline and an oil facility in Yanbu, while the Saudi led coalition says it intercepted Houthi drones elsewhere in the kingdom.
Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree said in a post on X on Thursday that one operation “targeted Pumping Station No. 7 on the East West Pipeline using a drone” and a second “targeted the Yanbu oil facility using a ballistic missile,” AFP reported. He claimed both had succeeded, along with attacks on a Saudi airport, an air base near the Yemeni border and an Aramco building in Riyadh. Reuters said the group did not specify the day of the attacks.
The coalition fighting the Houthis said on Thursday that it intercepted and destroyed two drones, one in the Riyadh region and one in the Eastern Province, and did not mention Yanbu or the pipeline. Saudi Arabia did not respond to a Reuters request for comment. Separately, Saree denied that the group had fired at Mecca, after Saudi civil defense said two ballistic missiles were destroyed on Wednesday with debris falling in the Mecca region.
In a Friday statement, Saree claimed one drone hit King Khalid International Airport and two drones hit Pumping Station No. 3 east of Riyadh, and that missiles struck al-Tuwal in Jazan and Ras Abbas camp in Aden, according to Shafaq News and Middle East Eye. Saudi Arabia, the Saudi led coalition and Aramco have not confirmed or denied the claims.
The pipeline matters far beyond Yemen. With traffic through the Strait of Hormuz disrupted by the war that began with U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran in February, Riyadh has moved about 4 million barrels a day of crude across the kingdom to Yanbu, around 4 percent of global supply, Reuters reported. Saudi Arabia said on Monday that an earlier attack on the pipeline caused a fire but did not affect operations, according to AFP.
On X, accounts that track the war gave different numbers for the station, some citing No. 11 near Yanbu and others No. 7, and Mereja Media found no images or independent confirmation of damage. The renewed fighting has also put shipping through the Bab el Mandeb at risk. Mereja Media reported this week that Egypt confirmed troops and air defenses in Saudi Arabia.
Sources
- Reuters, Yemen’s Houthis say they attacked pumping station on Saudi Arabia’s East West oil pipeline, Nov 12
- The Hindu (AFP), Yemen’s Houthis say they targeted Saudi East West pipeline, port city of Yanbu, Nov 13
- Al Mayadeen English on X, Saree statement, Nov 12
- InterBellumNews on X, Saree statement naming station No. 11, Nov 12
- Mereja Media, Egypt confirms troops and air defenses in Saudi Arabia for months