Saudi air defences intercept two ballistic missiles and two cruise missiles targeting Riyadh and other regions, while falling debris damages the Saudi Aramco administrative building.
Saudi Arabia on Sunday intercepted incoming missiles that targeted the kingdom’s capital, Riyadh, and other regions. The administrative building of state-owned oil giant Saudi Aramco, the world’s biggest oil producer and one of the most profitable companies globally, was damaged by falling debris.
Who attacked Riyadh?
A loud explosion was heard on Sunday morning, and the falling debris damaged several floors of the Aramco building in the King Abdullah Financial District, eyewitnesses told news agency AP.
The witnesses described a few floors that appeared to be heavily damaged, while others showed damage to the exterior glass.
The attack on the kingdom has not been claimed by Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels, who have taken responsibility for such strikes in Riyadh and the adjoining region in the past.
Was anyone injured in the Riyadh attack?
Two ballistic missiles and two cruise missiles were intercepted by the air defences that were targeting Riyadh and other regions, the Saudi Arabia-led coalition said. It accused Houthi rebels of launching the ballistic missiles, who haven’t claimed responsibility as yet.
According to Saudi Arabia’s Energy Ministry, the attempted missile attack resulted in “falling shrapnel that caused minor damage to the building.”
No casualties or injuries were reported in the incident.
Why is Saudi Arabia being targeted?
The strikes in Saudi Arabia come after Riyadh carried out airstrikes in Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, on Saturday, which is controlled by the Houthis. Officials from the rebel group had said that strikes killed at least 27 people.
The Houthis have stepped up missile and drone attacks on Saudi airports, ports and oil facilities since fighting resumed in July and became another front in the wider West Asia war. This began with US and Israeli attacks on Iran in February that killed its Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and saw the a crucial maritime chokepoint that carried a fifth of the global crude flow, the Strait of Hormuz, come under double blockade.
The Saudi-led coalition has said that its air defences had intercepted a ballistic missile overnight targeting the kingdom’s southern region, which borders Yemen and has most often received hits from Houthi rebels.
Red alert in Riyadh
The Sunday attack in the kingdom came shortly after Saudi Civil Defense issued an alert of a potential danger in the region. However, authorities later announced that the threat had passed, Reuters reported.
Houthis attack on Riyadh’s King Khalid International Airport on October 10 had killed 13 people and injured more than 300 people, the Saudi authorities had then said.
