Pakistan condemns drone attacks on pipeline in Saudi Arabia

The Foreign Office (FO) on Saturday condemned the targeting of the East-West pipeline in the Riyadh and Medina regions by drones coming from Iraq, which caused human injuries and infrastructure damage.

The development comes a day after Saudi Arabia said drones launched from Iraq hit the East-West pipeline and led to its closure.

“The pipeline was stopped as a precaution, and the attacks resulted in some injuries,” an energy ministry official told the SPA news agency earlier.

“At the request of the Iraqi prime minister…  (Riyadh) has chosen not to respond at this stage and to support the efforts of the Iraqi government … to prevent attacks launched from Iraq against the Kingdom and neighbouring countries,” the ministry said.

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But it stressed that Saudi Arabia “reserves the right to take all necessary measures to protect its sovereignty, its security, its facilities,” and its inhabitants.

Meanwhile, Pakistan condemned drone attacks targeting in the Riyadh and Madinah regions, which damaged the critical oil infrastructure and injured civilians.

“Pakistan strongly condemns the reprehensible drone attacks on the East-West Pipeline in the Riyadh and Madinah regions of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, causing damage to the pipeline and injuries to civilians,” the FO said in a press release.

The FO said that these attacks and targeting of civilian infrastructure were a flagrant violation of international law as well as the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Saudi Arabia and pose a serious threat to regional peace, security and stability.

“Pakistan reaffirms its unwavering support for the sovereignty, territorial integrity, security and prosperity of the Kingdom, and reiterates its solidarity with the leadership, government and brotherly people of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia,” it said, adding that Pakistan would continue to make efforts to achieve lasting peace and stability in the region.

Saudi Arabia says the attacks that occurred on Thursday morning had left several people wounded.

Since the start of the war in the Middle East, Riyadh has increased its use of this pipeline, which links Abqaiq, near the Gulf, to the port of Yanbu on the Red Sea, in order to bypass the closure of the Strait of Hormuz by Iran.