Saudi official says terror attack behind oil tank blast

ISTANBUL - A fire in a fuel tank in Saudi Arabia’s port city of Jeddah was the result of a "terrorist attack with a projectile," an official confirmed Monday.

"On Monday at 3:50 a.m. [local time], a blast caused the fire in the fuel tank at a distribution station for petroleum products in the north of Jeddah city," the official Saudi Press Agency (SPA) quoted an official with the Energy Ministry as saying, without giving his name.

The official noted however, did not accuse any group of the attack.

He added that firefighting teams managed to extinguish the fire and did not report any casualties from the blast.

The official also confirmed that the blast did not affect the supplying of fuel from the station to its customers.

Earlier in the day, the Houthi rebel group's spokesman, Yahya Saree, said his group targeted a distribution station of Saudi Arabia’s state-owned oil company Saudi Aramco in Jeddah with a rocket.

"These terrorist and disruptive activities that are committed against vital facilities [...] aim to target the security and stability of the energy supply route to the world and the world economy," the Saudi official added.

The Houthi rebel group regularly announces rocket and drone attacks on Saudi territories, saying they are in response to the Saudi-led coalition’s assault on Yemen.

Yemen has been beset by violence and chaos since 2014, when Houthi rebels overran much of the country, including the capital Sana’a.

The crisis escalated in 2015 when a Saudi-led coalition launched a devastating air campaign aimed at rolling back Houthi territorial gains.

More than 100,000 Yemenis, including civilians, are believed to have been killed in the conflict, which has led to the world’s worst humanitarian crisis, with millions at risk of starvation.

*Ahmed Asmar contributed to this report from Ankara