Yemen's Houthis say they attacked Aramco facility in Riyadh with missiles, drones

Oct 3 (Reuters) - Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis said on Saturday they had targeted an Aramco facility in the Saudi capital Riyadh with ballistic missiles and drones, saying the attack was in retaliation for Saudi attacks on Yemen's Sanaa and other provinces.

A large plume of smoke and fire was seen rising in the vicinity of an Aramco facility in Riyadh earlier on Saturday, a witness told Reuters.

There was no immediate confirmation from Saudi authorities of an attack on an Aramco facility. Aramco did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The reported attack comes amid escalating hostilities between Saudi Arabia and the Houthis, who have stepped up attacks on Saudi cities and energy infrastructure.

The Houthis said last week they had attacked Saudi Aramco facilities in Yanbu with missiles and drones. Saudi Arabia said at the time that it had intercepted six ballistic missiles fired by the Houthis towards Taif and the Yanbu area, but did not report damage to Aramco facilities.

(Reporting by Reuters; Editing by Toby Chopra and Chizu Nomiyama)