Arab countries condemn attack on Saudi oil facilities

By Gozde Bayar

ANKARA (AA) – The Arab countries on Sunday condemned drone strikes on two oil facilities of Saudi Arabia.

Egypt, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Bahrain and the Arab League expressed solidarity with Saudi Arabia, while condemning the attack.

Egypt and the UAE described the attacks as “acts of terrorism “and called for preserving security of the country.

Kuwait urged the international community, to redouble efforts to combat such attacks.

Pakistan, Jordan, and the Palestinian Authority have also issued statements, affirming their support to Saudi Arabia, while strongly condemned the attack.

The Arab League and the Organization for Islamic Cooperation (OIC) joined voices condemning the drone attack on Saudi oil facilities.

The General Secretariat of the Arab Foreign Ministers’ Council and the Arab Parliament expressed need, to take a firm stand against such attacks aimed to cripple backbone of Saudi economy.

On Saturday, the official Saudi Press Agency reported the blazes at the Abqaiq and Khurais oil facilities. Abqaiq is home to the state-owned, Saudi Aramco’s largest oil processing plant. Both the plants are located southwest of the Dhahran metropolitan area.

Abqaiq was the site of a terrorist attack attempt by al-Qaeda on Feb. 24, 2006, targeting the oil processing facility.

Early Sunday, Saudi Arabia announced halting oil production temporarily from these oil facilities, following drone attacks.

Although no group has yet, specifically claimed responsibility for the attacks, the Houthi rebels in Yemen, fighting against the Saudi-led coalition, said they have carried out similar attacks in the past.

The Iran-backed Houthis, whose medium and long-range ballistic missiles are usually intercepted and neutralized by the Saudi air defense system, have targeted certain strategic locations of Saudi Arabia with armed drones.

Yemen has remained wracked by violence since 2014, when the Iran-aligned Houthi group overran much of the country, including the capital Sanaa.

The conflict escalated the following year, when Saudi Arabia and its Arab allies launched a massive air campaign aimed at rolling back Houthi gains to support the country’s pro-Saudi government.

More than 70,000 people have been killed in the raging conflict since 2016, according to the UN estimates.

In addition, Saudi Arabia's airstrikes seeking to support the government have led to death of scores of civilians in the war-ravaged country since 2015.