Houthis Call for Truce After Missile and Drone Attacks on Saudi Arabia, Yemen

The Houthi rebel group in Yemen announced a unilateral three-day truce with the Saudi coalition in support of the internationally recognized government of Yemen on Sunday following two days of drone and missile attacks. The Houthis launched attacks on sites in Saudi Arabia, including the capital Riyadh, beginning on Friday which struck the Saudi Aramco oil facility in Jeddah, causing a huge fire in a storage that was still burning a day later and threatened a second such tank. The Saudi coalition retaliated by pounded the Houthi rebels in Yemen with missile and drone attacks, which left at least seven people dead. The Saudi attacks hit a power plant, a fuel supply station and the state-run social insurance office in the Houthi capital of Sanaa. The Houthi attack also came as the Saudi Arabian Formula One Grand Prix was getting underway. The Grand Prix was scheduled to go ahead as planned on Sunday, following practice runs on Saturday, in Jeddah despite the attack. The attacks come days after the Gulf Cooperation Council announced that it would invite both sides in Yemen’s civil war for talks. The Houthis rejected the suggested venue for the talks, Riyadh, saying it would be willing to negotiate in a more neutral country.