Houthis strike Aramco tower in Riyadh's King Abdullah Financial District

Houthi forces claimed four coordinated strikes on Saudi Arabia on Sunday, with eyewitnesses confirming visible damage to an Aramco skyscraper in Riyadh's King Abdullah Financial District — one of the most prominent symbols of the kingdom's Vision 2030 economic programme.

Windows were blown out across several floors of the building, three witnesses told AFP, with one reporting they saw a projectile strike the tower. Saudi Arabia's energy ministry confirmed "an administrative building belonging to Saudi Aramco in Riyadh was subjected to an attempted attack," saying falling shrapnel caused minor structural damage with no injuries or fatalities.

Coalition spokesperson Turki al-Malki said air defences "intercepted and destroyed two ballistic missiles launched by the Houthi terrorist militia towards Riyadh" as explosions were heard across the capital. The Houthi statement said the operation used ballistic and cruise missiles and drones, listing the KAFD, Riyadh airport, Aramco oil storage tanks and the eastern city of Abqaiq as targets.

KAFD is home to Goldman Sachs, the Public Investment Fund headquarters and the Saudi stock exchange. Targeting it, analysts said, was designed to strike at the credibility of Vision 2030 itself. Andreas Krieg of London-based risk consultancy MENA analytica told AFP that the attack "raises the political costs of Saudi Arabia's Yemen campaign" and strengthens those demanding military escalation while undermining Riyadh's argument that it can restore deterrence through airpower. "The Houthis are making Saudi Arabia's economic transformation hostage to an increasingly unwinnable war."

The attack came hours after the kingdom's education ministry announced the return of in-person schooling in Riyadh following weeks of remote learning prompted by an earlier wave of strikes. The United Nations says more than 1,600 people have been killed and more than 300,000 displaced since fighting resumed in impoverished Yemen.

A 2022 truce collapsed in July after Yemen's Saudi-backed government struck Sanaa airport; the Houthis responded by declaring a maritime blockade of Saudi Arabia before seizing the country's entire Red Sea coast. Britain said in October it would fly fighter jets on defensive missions to help protect Saudi cities from Houthi attacks. Multiple Yemeni officials told AFP that thousands of Syrian troops are set to deploy to Saudi Arabia and Yemen, though Syria's official SANA news agency cited a diplomatic source denying Damascus had sent troops "at this time."