Yemen Warns Saudi Arabia: Escalation Will Carry Consequences

By Staff, Agencies

A senior Yemeni official has warned Saudi Arabia that it will not remain insulated from the escalating tensions it has fueled in Yemen through its support for mercenary forces.

Abdulaziz bin Habtor cautioned Saudi officials on Sunday that the domestic war they helped fan against Yemen could eventually spread to Saudi territory.

He stressed that Yemen would never accept its land being turned into a battlefield, while Saudi Arabia and its interests would face the consequences of its actions.

Bin Habtor further said that Yemen would take appropriate measures to protect its security and sovereignty in response to the mobilization of forces and attempts to impose new military equations.

The warning came as media reports said on Sunday afternoon that the Yemeni armed forces had launched a drone attack targeting the Aramco refinery in Jizan, southern Saudi Arabia.

The reported attack was carried out in response to Saudi violations of Yemen's airspace and sovereignty in the provinces of Saada and Hajjah.

At the same time, the Saudi Civil Defense Organization announced that sirens had been activated in Jizan, while field reports said warning alarms were sounding across the region.

The Jizan refinery, owned by Aramco and capable of processing 400,000 barrels of oil per day, is among the company's major strategic projects. The $21-billion complex includes oil-refining, power-generation and petrochemical facilities and forms part of a broader industrial development plan in southwestern Saudi Arabia.