Yemenupdated 1h ago2 min read
MapSaudi Arabia Says Aramco Building Damaged After Attempted Attack on Riyadh Financial District
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Aramco building in Riyadh's King Abdullah Financial District damaged by falling shrapnel. No injuries or fatalities were reported.
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Outlets did split on Yemeni Armed Forces Conduct Six Missile and Drone Operations Targeting King Khalid Airport, Aramco →
Aramco hit in Riyadh
Saudi Arabia’s energy ministry said an administrative building belonging to Saudi Aramco in Riyadh was damaged after an attempted attack, and Saudi state media reported there were no injuries or fatalities. The Saudi-led coalition fighting Yemen’s Houthis said it intercepted and destroyed two ballistic missiles launched toward Riyadh, and Major-General Turki al-Maliki said two of the missiles were launched towards Riyadh while another targeted the kingdom’s Eastern province. Witnesses told AFP that Riyadh’s financial district was targeted and that the Aramco building was damaged, with one witness saying broken windows and visible damage to part of the tower’s facade were visible.
Video circulating on social media and verified by CNN showed damage to several floors of the Aramco building, with windows seen blown out, while Saudi authorities said the impact was minimal. The incident came after Saudi Civil Defense issued an early-warning alert of a potential threat to the city, and the coalition said it also intercepted and destroyed two cruise missiles in Riyadh and the southern region.
Missiles, drones, and claims
Turki al-Maliki wrote on X that air defenses also “intercepted and destroyed two ballistic missiles launched by the terrorist Houthi militia towards Riyadh.” Turki al-Maliki also said the coalition intercepted and destroyed two missiles in the southern region, as well as a drone launched by the Houthis. The Houthis have escalated attacks on targets in Saudi Arabia since a truce in Yemen’s war collapsed in July, and the report listed attacks on King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh, King Fahd International Airport in Dammam, and the Ras Tanura and Rabigh oil refineries.
The Houthis, who have fired missiles and drones towards multiple targets across Saudi Arabia over the last three months, have not claimed responsibility for the Riyadh strike. Multiple witnesses told AFP that Riyadh’s financial district was targeted and that the area’s Aramco building was damaged after the Saudi-led coalition said it had intercepted missiles launched by the group.
Yemen war backdrop
The attack on Riyadh’s financial district came as fighting intensified across Yemen between the Houthis and government forces, who launched the Dawn of Yemen operation aimed at retaking Houthi-held territory, including the capital, Sanaa, last month. Anees al-Asbahi, the Houthi-run Health Ministry spokesperson, said on Saturday that 33 people, including eight women and 13 children, were killed after Saudi-led coalition air attacks on the village of al-Shariyah, near Sanaa. Anees al-Asbahi said at least 39 others were wounded in the attacks on Saturday, which targeted homes, roads, paramedics and civil defence teams in the village.
The United Nations reported that more than 1,600 people have been killed and almost 300,000 displaced since a 2022 ceasefire collapsed in July after the Houthis announced a blockade of Saudi ports. France 24 said the Aramco tower in Riyadh’s King Abdullah Financial District was damaged by falling debris on Sunday after the Saudi-led coalition intercepted two ballistic missiles headed for the capital’s financial district, and it framed the incident as following Saudi air strikes that killed at least 33 people near Sanaa.