Aramco Tower in Riyadh Hit as Houthis Claim New Missile Strikes
Yemen's Houthis claimed missile strikes on Riyadh's financial district, and the Aramco Tower was damaged. Saudi Arabia reported only minor damage and no casualties, but verified video shows several floors with shattered windows. The attack follows a deadly air strike on Yemen.
The Aramco Tower was hit in the heart of Riyadh's King Abdullah Financial District this weekend, as Yemen's Iran-allied Houthis claimed fresh missile strikes on the Saudi capital. The Saudi energy ministry said the skyscraper suffered only "minor damage" and that no one was killed or injured.
Verified video tells a different story. It shows windows blown out on more than one level, with at least one floor appearing badly hit by a missile or drone.
A Houthi statement carried by the group's Saba news agency said it had targeted Riyadh's business zone. It did not name the Aramco Tower.
The Houthis also claimed separate strikes on Riyadh's airport and on Aramco oil storage facilities. The Saudi-led coalition said it had intercepted and destroyed two cruise missiles over Riyadh and the southern region. It added that air defenses downed two ballistic missiles fired toward the capital, according to coalition spokesman Turki al-Maliki.
Saudi state media, citing a source at the energy ministry, described "an administrative building belonging to Saudi Aramco" that was "subjected to an attempted attack." It said falling shrapnel caused the damage. One witness told reporters they saw ambulances heading to the area.
Retaliation after Yemen air strike
The attack came a day after the Houthis accused the Saudi-led coalition of killing at least 33 people, including women and children, in an air strike near Sanaa. Houthi-run television showed rescuers pulling bodies from rubble in the town of al-Shariyah. Saba said 39 people were injured. Saudi Arabia has not commented.
Mahdi al-Mashat, a senior Houthi official, had promised a response on Saturday.
Fighting has escalated since July
An informal ceasefire collapsed in July. The Houthis then announced a "maritime embargo" against Saudi Arabia and began missile and drone attacks on Saudi airports, oil facilities and tankers in the Red Sea. They say they are retaliating for a Saudi blockade of their territory and for a strike on Sanaa airport.
The United Nations says more than 1,600 people have been killed and more than 300,000 displaced since fighting resumed. Last month, 13 people died in one missile strike on Riyadh's international airport, according to CNN's account of the attacks.
Saudi Arabia spent $83 billion on defense last year, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. Analysts say the Houthis have learned to combine ballistic and cruise missiles with long-range drones to overwhelm defenses. Some projectiles get through.
The Houthis say they will keep firing as long as Saudi Arabia carries out air strikes on areas they control and enforces its blockade. "We will punish the Saudi regime for its crimes against the Yemeni people," al-Mashat said.
