Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen attacked Saudi Arabia on Tuesday.

They wounded 73 people and started fires at oil facilities and utilities.

Saudi authorities said the attacks hit civilian and economic targets in Abha, Jazan, Najran, and Khamis Mushait.

The Saudi Energy Ministry said fires broke out at several oil facilities and utilities in the southern region.

Operations there were stopped for a short time.

The area includes a major refinery in Jazan that processes 400,000 barrels per day.

Firefighters fought the fires on Tuesday morning.

The Houthi military spokesman, Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree, said they fired dozens of ballistic missiles and drones.

Targets included oil facilities, an industrial center in Jazan, Aramco sites, and King Khalid Air Base.

He blamed Saudi Arabia for the increase in violence and warned of a strong response to any attack.

Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister, Prince Faisal bin Farhan, accused the Houthis of using violence to help themselves.

He said the kingdom will not wait to defend itself.

The attacks came after the rebels blamed Saudi Arabia for an airstrike on a prison in Yemen that killed at least seven people.

The renewed fighting threatens to restart Yemen’s civil war, which has killed at least 150,000 people since 2014.