Yemeni rebel drones spark fires at two Saudi Aramco oil facilities

Drone attacks sparked fires at two Saudi Aramco oil facilities on Saturday, the interior ministry said, the latest such assault claimed by Yemeni rebels as the energy giant prepares for a much-anticipated stock listing.

Huge palls of smoke rose into the sky after the pre-dawn attacks on Abqaiq and Khurais, two major Aramco facilities in eastern Saudi Arabia, which follow a spike in regional tensions with Iran.

The attacks highlight how the increasingly advanced weaponry of the Iran-linked Huthi rebels -- from ballistic missiles to unmanned drones -- poses a serious threat to oil installations in Saudi Arabia, the world's top crude exporter.

"At 4:00 am (0100 GMT) the industrial security teams of Aramco started dealing with fires at two of its facilities in Abqaiq and Khurais as a result of... drones," the interior ministry said in a statement carried by the official Saudi Press Agency.

"The two fires have been controlled."