Yemen's Houthis say drone attack hits Saudi Aramco in Riyadh

DUBAI (Reuters) - Yemen's Houthi group said on Friday it hit a facility belonging to the state-controlled oil giant Saudi Aramco in Riyadh in a cross-border attack comprising six drones.

There was no immediate confirmation of an incident from Saudi authorities. Aramco did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment but said it would do so "at the earliest opportunity".

The Iran-aligned Houthis have stepped up attacks into Saudi Arabia, the world's top oil exporter, in recent weeks.

"Our armed forces carried out at dawn today an operation... with six drones which targeted the Aramco company in the capital of the Saudi enemy, Riyadh," said Yahya Sarea, a Houthi military spokesman, without describing the targets he said were hit.

Sarea said operations against Saudi Arabia will continue and escalate as long as Saudi "aggression" against Yemen continues.

Saudi Arabia leads a military coalition which intervened in Yemen in March 2015 against Houthi forces, which ousted the internationally-recognised Yemeni government from power in Sanaa in late 2014.

Saudi Arabia says it intercepts most of the drones and missiles which the Houthis say they launch at airports, air bases and energy infrastructure, but some do inflict damage.

On March 7, the coalition said a barrage of drones and missiles had been intercepted en route to targets including an oil storage yard at Ras Tanura, the site of a refinery and the world's biggest offshore oil-loading facility. A residential compound in Dhahran used by Saudi Aramco was also targeted.

Sarea warned "foreign companies and citizens" to avoid military sites and key infrastructure.

In renewed diplomatic efforts to end the war, the United Nations and United States have urged the Houthis, who are also pressing an offensive against government-held Marib city in Yemen, to turn to negotiations rather then military escalation.

The U.N. Security Council on Thursday condemned the escalation of fighting in Marib, saying it threatened peacemaking.

(Writing by Lisa Barrington; Editing by Alison Williams and Mark Heinrich)