Houthis Strike Back

Yemen's Houthi group said on Saturday it had attacked oil facilities at Shayba in Saudi Arabia with 10 drones,

according to a tweet by the Iran-aligned movement's Masirah TV.  The facilities attacked included a refinery and oil storage, it said. Shayba is located in eastern Saudi Arabia.Drones launched by Yemen's Houthi rebels attacked a massive oil and gas field deep inside Saudi Arabia's sprawling desert on Saturday, it is  the second such recent attack on its crucial energy industry.

The war has been going on for 4 years, Saudi Arabia and the UAE launched their war against the Houthis in support of  the country's internationally recognized government.The attack on the Shaybah oil field, which produces some 1 million barrels of crude oil a day demonstratess the reach of the Houthis' drone program. Shaybah sits some 1,200 kilometers  from Houthi-controlled territory

The drone assault also comes amid heightened tensions in the wider Mideast between the U.S. and Iran, whose supreme leader hosted a top Houthi official days earlier in Tehran.

"This act of terrorism and sabotage is only an extension of those acts that have recently targeted the global oil supply chains, including oil pipelines in the kingdom, and oil tankers," al-Falih said. "This cowardly attack once again highlights the importance of the international community's response to all terrorist actors who carry out such acts of sabotage, including the Houthi militias."

Unlike sophisticated drones that use satellites to allow pilots to remotely fly them, analysts believe Houthi drones are likely programmed to strike a specific latitude and longitude and cannot be controlled once out of radio range. The Houthis have used drones, which can be difficult to track by radar, to attack Saudi Patriot missile batteries, as well as enemy troops.