Fire at Saudi oil terminal after projectile hit: energy ministry

[RIYADH] A fire broke out at an oil terminal in southern Saudi Arabia after it was hit by a projectile, the energy ministry said on Friday, the sixth anniversary of a Riyadh-led military intervention in Yemen.

"A projectile attack on a petroleum products distribution terminal in Jizan... resulted in a fire in one of the terminal's tanks," the ministry said in a statement published by the official Saudi Press Agency, adding that no casualties were reported.

It did not say who was behind the strike on Thursday, but it comes as Yemen's Huthi rebels increasingly mount attacks on the kingdom's energy installations.

The attack comes after Saudi Arabia on Monday offered the Huthis a "comprehensive" UN-supervised ceasefire, as part of a series of fresh proposals aimed at ending the catastrophic six-year conflict.

But the Huthis swiftly dismissed the initiative as "nothing new" as they reiterated their demand that a Saudi-led air and sea blockade on Yemen be completely lifted.

Riyadh led a military coalition into Yemen in March 2015 to prop up the internationally recognised government, but it has struggled to oust the highly motivated rebels.

The coalition says it enforced a naval and air blockade to prevent the smuggling of weapons to the rebels from Iran - allegations Tehran denies.

Yemen on Friday marks the sixth anniversary of the Saudi-led military coalition's involvement in the disastrous war, which has left the country broken and on the edge of famine.

The grinding conflict has claimed tens of thousands of lives and displaced millions, according to international organisations, sparking what the UN calls the world's worst humanitarian crisis.

AFP