Yemen’s Houthi rebels said on Sunday they had struck an Aramco oil facility on Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea coast after the Gulf kingdom said it had extinguished a fire at the site.

The group’s military spokesman Yahya Saree said the Houthis had “succeeded in targeting the Aramco refinery in Jazan with a drone”.

He claimed the attack on the facility operated by Saudi Arabia’s state-owned oil firm was launched in response to incursions by drones from the Gulf monarchy into northwest Yemen.

A years-long truce in Yemen’s civil war between the Houthis and the internationally recognised government appeared to collapse last month as fighting between regional allies of the United States and Iran flared.

Later, Saree said the Houthis on Sunday targeted “Saudi enemy” troops and equipment in the area of Yemen’s Red Sea coastal city of Mokha with missiles and drones.

Two military sources with the internationally recognised, Aden-based government confirmed the Houthis attacked Mokha with missiles and drones.

One of the two military sources said the Houthis also targeted pro-government forces and installations outside Mokha and sites on islands near the Bab al-Mandeb, the shipping chokepoint at the southern entrance to the Red Sea.

The same military source said some locations targeted by Houthis housed Saudi troops, but no casualties had been reported among military personnel from the Gulf kingdom.

Residents in government-controlled Mokha confirmed to AFP they heard blasts in the area, with one saying they “heard explosions from drones and air defences over the port and city”.

Another resident said they heard “six consecutive explosions” in the port.

Earlier, Saudi Arabia’s energy ministry said civil response teams had brought under control a fire at the Jazan refinery, without giving the cause of the blaze.

“Saudi Aramco’s industrial security firefighting teams extinguished a fire that broke out at dawn today, Sunday, at one of the facilities belonging to the Saudi Aramco refinery in Jazan, without any injuries,” the ministry said.

The facility was also targeted by Yemen’s Houthi rebels in July. Aramco had shut down the refinery as the attack damaged the plant’s Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle (IGCC) complex and tank farm area, according to a note from consultancy IIR seen by Reuters.

The Jazan refinery processes 400,000 barrels of crude oil per day and produces refined products including gasoline and ultra-light sulfur diesel.

Aramco chief Amin Nasser said last week that recent attacks on the company’s facilities had caused some production interruptions but that he was confident operations could be restored quickly. He said the attacks had no material operational or financial impact.

The Houthis control vast swathes of Yemen, including the capital Sanaa and areas on the border with Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea provinces.

The Yemeni threat to shipping and Saudi oil facilities comes in parallel with Iran’s blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, which has become the central flashpoint between Tehran and Washington amid efforts to end the Middle East war begun by the US and Israel in February.

In July, the Houthis had announced a maritime blockade of Saudi Arabia, hitting Saudi tankers in the Red Sea.

Pakistan had condemned the Houthis’ threats to Saudi Arabia and to trading with the kingdom via the Red Sea. It also warned that it had the right to self-defence if its “maritime interests” were targeted in “any hostile act”.

Last week, Saudi Arabia unveiled plans for a multinational maritime defence coalition to protect shipping and energy supply routes in the Red Sea. Fourteen countries, including Pakistan, have voiced support for the coalition.

On Friday, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Turkiye signed a joint defence agreement under which an attack against one of them would be treated as an attack against all of them.