KUWAIT: Kuwait on Sunday condemned "in the strongest possible terms" a string of drone attacks launched by Yemen's Houthi group towards "civilian sites" in Saudi Arabia. These "terrorist crimes" represent a major escalation of violence and put the kingdom's security at great risk, said a Kuwaiti foreign ministry statement, adding such transgressions "run counter to international law and humanitarian principles."
It slammed the international community's "silence" in the face of these "despicable actions," saying Kuwait "stands in solidarity with Saudi Arabia" and supports all the measures taken by Riyadh to keep its security and stability intact.
The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) condemned the drone and missile attacks. "These terrorist attacks not only target Saudi Arabia, but strike at the pulse of the global economy and energy supplies to the world," GCC chief Dr Nayef Al-Hajraf said in a statement. He underlined the six-nation bloc's "unwavering support" for all the measures Riyadh has taken to protect its national interests, which support global energy security and maritime trade operations.
Colonel Turki Al-Malki, the spokesman for the Saudi defense ministry and the military coalition led by the kingdom, said the site of the world's biggest offshore oil loading facility was attacked with a drone coming from the sea, before it was intercepted and destroyed prior to reaching its target.
In the meantime, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation has condemned in the strongest terms the Houthi militias' foiled terrorist attacks. In a press statement on Sunday, the OIC Secretary General Dr Yousef bin Ahmed Al-Othaimeen stressed that these terrorist, sabotage and criminal acts against vital installations not only target the Kingdom, but also target the security and stability of global energy supplies.
He also warned that such acts pose a threat to the lives of thousands of Saudi Aramco employees and their families of various nationalities. He called on the international community to stand with the Kingdom in taking practical deterrent measures against all terrorist entities that carry out and support these subversive acts.
Saudi Arabia had derailed a drone assault on oil reservoirs at Ras Tanura Port and a ballistic missile attack on a residential compound of workers of the country's energy giant Aramco, announced the Saudi Energy Ministry. "One of the petroleum tank areas at the Ras Tanura Port in the Eastern Region, one of the largest oil shipping ports in the world, was attacked this morning by a drone, coming from the sea," the Saudi Press Agency quoted an official spokesman of the Energy Ministry as saying Sunday.
The spokesman added that another deliberate attempt was also made this evening to attack Saudi Aramco's facilities. "Shrapnel from a ballistic missile fell near Saudi Aramco's residential area in the city of Dhahran, where thousands of the company's employees and their families from different nationalities live," he stated. He said that both attacks did not result in any injury or loss of life or property.
In his statement, the spokesman stressed that the Kingdom condemns and criminalizes such repeated acts of sabotage and hostility. "The Kingdom calls on nations and organizations of the world to stand together against these attacks, which are aimed at civilian objects and vital installations," he said. "Such acts of sabotage do not only target the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, but also the security and stability of energy supplies to the world, and therefore, the global economy.
They affect the security of petroleum exports, freedom of world trade, and maritime traffic." He added that they also expose coasts and territorial waters to grave environmental catastrophes due to potential leakage of petroleum or petroleum products. - KUNA