Houthi Missiles Damage Aramco Tower in Riyadh as Saudi Air Defences Intercept Attack

The King Abdullah Financial District in Riyadh, where the Aramco tower was damaged — Image via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Missiles fired from Yemen damaged a tower belonging to Saudi oil giant Aramco in the heart of Riyadh's financial district on Sunday, 8 November, after Saudi air defences intercepted the attack, according to Saudi officials and witnesses. No one was injured.

What happened

• Loud explosions were heard across the Saudi capital on Sunday morning. The Saudi-led coalition fighting Yemen's Houthis said its air defences had intercepted and destroyed two ballistic missiles launched towards Riyadh, coalition spokesman Major General Turki al-Maliki said in a social media post.
• The coalition later said it had also intercepted two cruise missiles in the Riyadh and southern regions and a ballistic missile heading towards the Eastern Province, according to the Associated Press.
• The Iran-backed Houthis claimed the attack. Their military spokesman, Yahya Saree, said the group had carried out four operations using ballistic, cruise and drone missiles against Aramco facilities, Riyadh airport and Saudi military positions.

The damage

• Saudi Arabia's Energy Ministry said in a statement carried by the Saudi Press Agency that an administrative building belonging to Saudi Aramco in Riyadh "was subjected to an attempted attack". Falling shrapnel caused minor damage to the building, with no injuries or fatalities reported.
• Witnesses told the AFP news agency that the Aramco tower in the King Abdullah Financial District (KAFD) had been hit, with several floors damaged, windows blown out and part of the facade torn away. Video circulating on social media and verified by CNN and BBC Verify showed broken windows across several floors of the building.
• The Aramco tower, recognisable by the zig-zag shape of its upper floors, is one of the tallest buildings in the district. Aramco itself has not commented on the incident.

Background

• The Houthis have fired missiles and drones towards targets across Saudi Arabia over the last three months, and the 2022 truce between the two sides collapsed in July 2026.
• A day before the Riyadh attack, the Houthi-run Health Ministry said 33 people, including eight women and 13 children, had been killed and 39 wounded in coalition air strikes on al-Shariyah village near the Yemeni capital, Sanaa. That toll could not be independently verified.
• The attack came less than 12 hours after WWE's Crown Jewel event ended in Riyadh on Saturday night, with the missiles arriving during the Sunday morning rush hour.

The incident is a reminder that the war in Yemen continues to reach into the heart of the Saudi capital, even as the wider region watches for signs of a new conflict involving Iran. Saudi authorities have not said whether further retaliatory action will follow.