RIYADH/SANAA, Oct. 19 (Xinhua) -- Yemen's Houthi group said Monday it had carried out six attacks against oil, aviation and military targets in Saudi Arabia over the past 48 hours, as security concerns prompted the kingdom to postpone its flagship investment conference originally scheduled for later this month.
Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Sarea said in a statement that the first attack targeted facilities of Saudi oil giant Aramco in the Red Sea city of Yanbu, claiming the strikes hit the targets and caused fires.
The second targeted the Shaybah oil field in eastern Saudi Arabia and caused fires, Sarea claimed.
Other attacks targeted King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh, Abha International Airport in southwestern Saudi Arabia, radar installations at Jabal Al-Hisn and Jabal Al-Rahmah, King Khalid Air Base near Khamis Mushait, a Saudi naval task force camp, and a radar installation in the southern Najran region, he alleged.
The six operations were in response to more than 200 Saudi air and missile strikes on Sanaa and other Houthi-held areas of Yemen over the past 48 hours, he said.
There was no immediate comment from Saudi Arabia or the Saudi-led coalition.
The latest claims came amid continued cross-border attacks between the Houthis and Saudi Arabia, alongside heavy fighting between the group and Saudi-backed Yemeni government forces.
A Houthi missile attack on a government military base in Yemen's southeastern oil-rich province of Shabwa earlier on Monday killed 53 people, with more than 200 others injured, the local government said.
Sarea said the Houthi group had targeted what he described as "Saudi military mobilizations" at the base, claiming that Saudi officers were among those killed or wounded.
The tensions have impacted major commercial events in Saudi Arabia. The kingdom announced Monday the postponement of the 10th edition of the Future Investment Initiative conference, its flagship event originally scheduled for Oct. 26-29 in Riyadh, to 2027.
Meanwhile, Egypt's parliament postponed a vote on authorizing military support for Saudi Arabia until Oct. 26, after several lawmakers reportedly requested to speak.
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi on Saturday asked parliament to authorize Egypt to defend Saudi Arabia if requested, while stressing he meant "defense," not war.
Yemen has been mired in conflict since late 2014, when the Houthis seized the capital Sanaa and much of the country's north. A Saudi-led coalition intervened in 2015 in support of the internationally recognized Yemeni government. ■
