Saudi Arabia said its air defenses intercepted ballistic and cruise missiles targeting Riyadh and other regions early Sunday, and falling debris damaged a building belonging to state-owned Saudi Aramco in the capital’s financial district. Saudi officials reported no casualties, The Associated Press reported. The strike comes as Houthi attacks on the kingdom have widened from airports to oil facilities over the past month.
What Saudi officials said
Coalition spokesman Maj. Gen. Turki al-Maliki said air defenses destroyed two ballistic missiles that Yemen’s Houthi militia launched toward Riyadh, along with two cruise missiles over Riyadh and the southern region, according to CNN. Al Jazeera reported that air defenses also destroyed a ballistic missile launched toward the Eastern Province, bringing the total of ballistic missiles to three.
Saudi Civil Defense issued an early-warning alert for the city before the strike, and multiple loud booms were heard in Riyadh, CNN reported.
Conflicting accounts of the damage
The Saudi Press Agency, citing a source at the Energy Ministry, described an attempted attack on an Aramco administrative building. It said falling shrapnel caused minor damage and that there were no injuries or fatalities.
Witnesses described a different picture. They told AP they saw damage across multiple floors of an Aramco building in the King Abdullah Financial District, with some floors appearing heavily damaged. CNN said witnesses and geolocated video indicated a missile struck the multi-story building, and video it verified showed damage to upper floors. One witness told CNN they saw ambulances heading to the area.
A similar gap appeared in October. After a missile hit Aramco’s Dhahran headquarters on October 13, the Energy Ministry described a limited fire while sources told Reuters the damage was extensive, as The Eastern Herald reported when Aramco emptied that headquarters after an alarm.
Houthi claims
The Houthis had not claimed responsibility for the Riyadh strike, AP and CNN reported. Separately, Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree said on X that the group carried out six operations targeting Aramco oil facilities, Riyadh airport and Saudi military positions on both sides of the border. Al Jazeera said it could not independently verify that claim.
The group made similar assertions two weeks ago, when it claimed seven attacks on Saudi airports and Aramco facilities. Saudi authorities did not say at the time whether any of those attacks reached their targets.
The attack followed Saudi airstrikes on Saturday near Sanaa. The Houthi-run health ministry said they killed 33 people, including women and children, in a village east of the capital; AP said Houthi officials reported at least 27 dead. The coalition did not immediately comment, and Al Jazeera said it could not verify the reports.
A widening conflict
The United Nations says more than 1,600 people have been killed and almost 300,000 displaced since a 2022 ceasefire collapsed in July, when the Houthis announced a blockade of Saudi ports, according to Al Jazeera. The Eastern Herald covered that escalation when the group declared a maritime blockade on Saudi Arabia.
Washington has also changed its posture. The State Department ordered non-emergency US government employees and their families to leave Saudi Arabia on October 21, The Hill reported, citing Houthi strikes on civilian airports and other critical infrastructure. Brent crude rose to its highest level since May on October 22 after further attacks, Reuters reported, although the reports reviewed described no confirmed loss of Saudi output.
Riyadh has also leaned on partners for defense. Regional officials told AP in September that Saudi Arabia was running low on missile interceptors and had asked France, Britain, Pakistan and Egypt for air defense support.
Riyadh’s airport has been a repeated target. The civil aviation authority said at least 12 people were killed and 309 injured in an October 10 attack on King Khalid International Airport, as The Eastern Herald reported in its account of the airport attack. CNN has since reported that 13 people were killed in that single strike, so the toll differs between accounts.
Saudi officials have not said whether Sunday’s attack will change security arrangements in the financial district. The conflicting descriptions of damage to the Aramco building, and whether anyone was hurt, are likely to remain open until independent verification emerges.
