Aramco building damaged in Riyadh after Saudi forces intercept missile attack
Debris from intercepted weapons struck the oil giant’s headquarters, while a rival leader was tasked with forming a new Israeli government.
By Aiko Petrov ·
Saudi Arabia intercepted four missiles targeted at its capital and other regions on Sunday, resulting in debris damage to a headquarters building of the state-owned oil company Aramco. The incident occurred in Riyadh’s King Abdullah Financial District, where witnesses reported loud explosions and structural harm across multiple floors.
The Saudi-led coalition stated that its air defense systems downed two ballistic missiles and two cruise missiles early in the morning. The group attributed the attacks to the Houthis. The Saudi Energy Ministry described the impact as falling shrapnel that caused minor damage to the Aramco facility. The ministry confirmed there were no casualties in the incident.
Witnesses in the capital provided details about the extent of the damage but spoke on condition of anonymity due to security concerns. They noted that some floors of the building appeared heavily damaged. Neither Aramco nor the Saudi Center for International Communication responded immediately to requests for comment from The Associated Press.
The coalition also reported intercepting a ballistic missile overnight that targeted Saudi Arabia’s southern region, an area bordering Yemen that has faced repeated Houthi attacks. This defensive action followed Saudi airstrikes near Sanaa, the Yemeni capital held by the Houthis, on Saturday. Houthi officials said those strikes killed at least 27 people.
In a separate development, the United Arab Emirates rescued 22 crew members from a cargo ship that caught fire in the Sea of Oman. The UAE National Guard stated that all rescued individuals, who were of Arab nationalities, were in stable condition after receiving first aid. The organization did not identify the vessel or specify the cause of the fire.
The British military organization UK Maritime Trade Operations reported that a tanker caught fire on Saturday about 8 nautical miles northwest of Khasab, Oman. It was unclear if this was the same vessel involved in the UAE rescue. The incident occurs amid heightened risks to commercial shipping, including a U.S. naval blockade of Iran in the Strait of Hormuz.
U.S. forces disabled a St. Kitts-flagged cargo ship in the Gulf of Oman on Saturday, claiming it attempted to breach the blockade. Separately, the Iranian military said two tankers struck mines in the Hormuz area late Saturday and caught fire. The Iranian military did not identify the flags or destinations of those vessels.
In Israel, President Isaac Herzog designated Gadi Eisenkot to form the next government late Saturday. This decision followed consultations with parties elected in the October 27 parliamentary elections. Eisenkot, who is a rival to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, will begin negotiations with potential coalition partners after an official ceremony on Sunday.
