Attack Damages Aramco Tower in Riyadh's Financial District, Saudi Energy Ministry Says

An official at the ministry said there had been "an attempted targeting of a Saudi Aramco building in Riyadh", which caused shrapnel to fall on the building and do limited damage. No one was injured or killed, the official said, and the relevant authorities had begun taking the necessary measures.

Witnesses told AFP that the King Abdullah Financial District, known as KAFD, had been targeted and that the Aramco tower there had been hit. One said several floors appeared to have been affected, with shattered glass and damage visible on part of the facade. Aramco was not immediately available for comment.

The location matters more than the scale of the damage. KAFD is Riyadh's flagship commercial district, with office towers for international companies alongside housing, shops and a metro station, and it is a showcase for the kingdom's effort to attract foreign capital and regional headquarters. Semafor reported that near-daily attacks on Riyadh have disrupted life in the city and forced the cancellation of a high-profile economic conference, adding pressure on Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman as he tries to keep that multi-trillion-dollar programme on track.

The Saudi-led coalition fighting the Houthis in Yemen said its air defences destroyed two ballistic missiles fired towards Riyadh on Sunday. Coalition spokesperson Turki Al-Maliki said two cruise missiles and a drone were also intercepted over Riyadh and the southern regions. Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree claimed a series of missile and drone attacks across Saudi Arabia aimed at oil facilities and airports, according to The Economic Times.

By Arab News's count, the coalition has reported intercepting or destroying at least 15 ballistic and cruise missiles and drones across the kingdom since November 1, aimed at areas including Riyadh, Najran, Madinah, Makkah and the Eastern Province. Civil Defence issued early warnings on Sunday for Riyadh, Najran Province, Buqayq, Al-Ahsa and Dammam before lifting them. It also warned residents that filming or sharing information about interceptions or impact sites could expose them to legal liability.

The Houthis have stepped up attacks on Saudi airports, ports and oil facilities since fighting resumed in July. The war that began with US and Israeli strikes on Iran on February 28 has since spread across the region. In mid-October, after the Houthis claimed an attack on Aramco in Dhahran, a Saudi energy ministry official confirmed that a building at the company's headquarters there had been struck and caught fire on a limited scale, AFP reported at the time. King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh suspended operations after strikes in October that killed and wounded civilians, and several international airlines extended their suspensions of Riyadh flights into November.

The attack came hours after the Education Ministry said in-person classes would resume in Riyadh, following weeks of remote learning introduced after an earlier wave of strikes. The coalition said it would keep taking operational measures to deter further attacks.