Falling debris damaged a Saudi Aramco administrative building in Riyadh following a Houthi attack on Sunday, November 8, according to Saudi Arabia’s Energy Ministry. The ministry described the damage as limited and said nobody was killed or injured. A Reuters witness reported shattered windows on several floors of Aramco Tower in the capital’s King Abdullah Financial District.
The Saudi-led coalition initially reported intercepting two missiles launched toward Riyadh by Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis. In a subsequent statement, it said two cruise missiles had been intercepted and destroyed in Riyadh and the kingdom’s southern region. Aramco was not immediately available to comment, and the Houthis issued no immediate statement.
Aramco Tower stands among the tallest buildings in the financial district, a prominent showcase for Saudi Arabia’s economic and social reform efforts. The district combines glass skyscrapers with upscale shops, green spaces and residential properties. It also contains a major metro station that draws substantial commuter traffic during the morning rush. Targeting the district would represent a major escalation in the conflict.
Earlier on Sunday, a witness heard several loud explosions in Riyadh. The sounds followed warnings that Saudi Civil Defense issued and later withdrew for parts of the Eastern Province, including Dhahran, where Aramco has its headquarters. Most of Saudi Arabia’s oil and gas reserves are in that province. An October attack extensively damaged the company’s headquarters.
Saudi Arabia has been seeking assistance from allies while facing daily Houthi fire. The Houthis recently captured stretches of the Red Sea coastline from the government backed by Riyadh. Since fighting resumed in July, the group has intensified missile and drone attacks against Saudi airports, ports and oil installations, while Saudi forces have conducted airstrikes on Houthi targets in Yemen.
The renewed conflict has become another front in the broader Middle East war that reignited after US and Israeli attacks on Iran in February. Among the attacks on Saudi Arabia, a strike on Riyadh’s King Khalid International Airport on October 10 killed 13 people and injured more than 300, Saudi authorities said.
The return to hostilities has broken a truce negotiated by the United Nations in 2022 that had largely stopped fighting between Saudi Arabia and the Houthis. Saudi Arabia first led an Arab coalition into Yemen in 2015, seeking to restore the internationally recognized government after Houthi forces took control of Sanaa.
Sunday’s attack followed a report a day earlier from the Houthi-run health ministry in Yemen that Saudi airstrikes had killed at least 33 people near Sanaa. Saudi authorities said they were investigating.
