Middle East Monitoring Desk Islamabad
As was feared and apprehended earlier after the signing of Mecca Pact by our media, Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis have attacked Saudi Aramco’s Jazan refinery,on Sunday, two days after the kingdom signed a defense pact and now the question is the same that was arised, Turkiye and Pakistan would respond or not.
The Yemeni military spokesperson said the attack on the port killed 07 people. The Yemeni transportation ministry said in a statement that the attack caused severe damage to the port’s infrastructure.
“This marks yet another assault on a vital civilian facility that serves citizens and contributes to boosting commercial and maritime activity in the Red Sea,” the ministry said.
It is not clear whether or how either Pakistan or Turkey would join in any Saudi response to the latest attacks. Pakistan’s military, air force, prime minister’s office and information and foreign ministries did not respond to requests for comment and the Turkish government did not respond to a request on Sunday for comment on the implications of the refinery attack.
The Saudi energy ministry said a fire had broken out at the refinery but was later extinguished with no injuries and authorities were dealing with the incident, without giving a cause.
The Houthis used a drone to target the refinery, military spokesperson Yahya Saree posted on X. They had struck Aramco sites before in Jazan, which processes 400,000 barrels of crude oil per day in southwestern Saudi Arabia. They had also hit Yanbu on the Red Sea.
In a separate statement, Saree said the Houthis carried out missile and drone strikes on the Yemeni Red Sea port city of Mocha.
The port, controlled by the Aden-based government, is close to the strategic Bab el-Mandeb strait, which links the southern Red Sea with the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean. Should it be closed, Saudi Arabia would be deprived of an alternative to the Strait of Hormuz.
Three Yemeni government sources told Reuters that air defenses were engaging drones launched by the Houthis towards the commercial quay and storage in the port.
Saree said the Houthi strikes targeted Saudi troops and weapons arsenal in the area. There was no Saudi comment on the attacks in Yemen.
Rashad al-Alimi, head of Yemen’s Saudi-backed presidential council, on Sunday briefed U.S. Mission to Yemen Chargé d’Affaires Neil Hop on the developments, according to a statement.
He said the Houthis’ attack put a responsibility on the international community, foremost among them the U.S., to “move beyond only containing the Houthi threat to addressing its sources and instruments.”
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said on Friday, as the alliance was announced, that it was not directed against Iran or any other country, but rather served as a general pledge to support the three allies’ security.
Fidan said the allies would decide through consultations what degree, form, and format of support they would ask for in the event of an attack on any of them.
