Yemenupdated 23m ago3 min read
Archive photo · 14 June 2022Houthis Attack Damages Saudi Aramco Building in Riyadh’s King Abdullah Financial District
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This article is an automated aggregation of coverage from news outlets. Our editorials offer in-depth analysis curated by the NewsCord team.
Houthis claim multiple operations targeting Aramco and Riyadh using missiles and drones. Aramco building in King Abdullah Financial District damaged by falling debris; no injuries reported.
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Aramco hit in Riyadh
Houthis claimed they carried out an attack that damaged a Saudi Aramco administrative building in Riyadh’s King Abdullah Financial District, and Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Energy said the damage came from “falling shrapnel” with “no injuries or fatalities.” The Saudi-led coalition fighting Yemen’s Houthis said Saudi air defences intercepted Houthi missiles over Riyadh in the early hours, and Major-General Turki al-Maliki said two missiles were launched towards Riyadh while another targeted the kingdom’s Eastern province. The Houthis also escalated attacks on targets across Saudi Arabia since a truce in Yemen’s war collapsed in July, and the Al Jazeera account tied the Riyadh incident to that broader pattern.
The Saudi Ministry of Energy said damage to the Aramco Tower was limited, and the South China Morning Post described windows blown out across several floors in the financial district after debris from an attempt to attack the building. The BBC framed the same incident as a Saudi “attempted targeting” of an Aramco building, with Saudi state media reporting shrapnel falling on the building and limited damage with no injuries or fatalities.
Competing claims and strikes
The Yemeni Armed Forces announced it carried out six military operations deep inside Saudi territory, and the statement said the first operation targeted Riyadh’s King Khalid International Airport, oil storage facilities, and the distillation tower belonging to Aramco in Riyadh.
The 26 September Net account said the second operation targeted Aramco in Khurais and the third operation targeted the pumping station No. 8 in the al-Dawadi region, while the fourth operation targeted the Saudi enemy’s mobilizations at the National Guard Camp in Najran.
The BBC reported that the coalition announced it had intercepted and destroyed three ballistic missiles and a cruise missile launched by the Houthis toward Riyadh and the eastern and southern regions, and it said Major General Turki al-Maliki described the interceptions.
The CNN account said the Houthis claimed the King Abdullah Financial District strike and that Saudi authorities said the impact was minimal, while it quoted the Saudi Energy Ministry source that the incident resulted in falling shrapnel and “no injuries or fatalities reported.”
The BBC also included a witness account that “Aramco Tower was targeted in Kabul,” while other witnesses confirmed damage to the glass building, reflecting how the same location was described differently.
Yemen war stakes rise
Al Jazeera linked the Riyadh incident to fighting intensifying across Yemen between the Houthis and government forces, and it said the government launched the Dawn of Yemen operation aimed at retaking Houthi-held territory including Sanaa last month. The same Al Jazeera account said the Houthis blamed Saudi-led coalition air attacks for deaths in the village of al-Shariyah near Sanaa, and it reported that the Houthi-run Health Ministry spokesperson Anees al-Asbahi said “33 people, including eight women and 13 children, were killed.” The BBC reported that on Friday an attack on a market in Taiz province killed 30 people, and it said the Houthis blamed it on Saudi air attacks while Yemeni government forces accused the group of firing a ballistic missile at the site.
The Al Jazeera account also said the United Nations reported more than 1,600 people had been killed and almost 300,000 displaced since a 2022 ceasefire collapsed in July after the Houthis announced a blockade of Saudi ports. The South China Morning Post described the Riyadh escalation as another front in what it called the wider US-Israeli war on Iran, while the 26 September Net account said the Yemeni Armed Forces vowed to continue deep inside Saudi territory and “will not hesitate to exact retribution” for the blood of the Yemeni people.