ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Tuesday condemned a missile attack by Houthi militants on a petroleum products distribution plant in the north of Jeddah city in Saudi Arabia.

The site is considered a “critical facility” which distributes more than 120,000 barrels of products per day. A fire caused in the incident was extinguished in around 40 minutes with no casualties, Saudi authorities said.

“Pakistan strongly condemns the missile attack by Houthi militants at petroleum distribution terminal in Jeddah causing a fire in a fuel tank which was successfully extinguished without any causalities,” Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Tuesday. “Pakistan calls for immediate cessation of such attacks that violate the territorial integrity and sovereignty of the brotherly Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and threaten the lives of innocent civilians.” 

Islamabad also reaffirmed its “full support and solidarity” with Saudi Arabia against any threats to its security and territorial integrity.

An official from the Saudi Aramco oil company said customers were unaffected by the attack.

“The terrorist, Iran-backed Houthi militia has been positively identified as the culprits of this cowardly terrorist assault,” said Brig. Gen. Turki Al-Maliki, the spokesperson for the Arab Coalition Forces to Support Legitimacy in Yemen.

Over the last six years, Houthi forces have carried out many missile and drone strikes on civilian airports and oil infrastructure in Saudi Arabia, including on the capital Riyadh. Cross-border attacks by Houthi forces have escalated since late May when a truce prompted by the novel coronavirus pandemic expired.