On a Saturday in November, missiles or drones struck Riyadh's Aramco Tower, a skyscraper at the heart of the Saudi capital's financial district, and left visible damage that contradicts the official account of minor harm. The Houthis, who claimed the attack through their own news agency, add it to a growing list of strikes reaching deep into Saudi territory. Behind the smoke over Riyadh lies a war more than a decade old, rekindled after an informal truce collapsed in July, in which the cost to ordinary Yemenis is already measured in the thousands.
Aramco Tower in Riyadh Hit as Houthis Launch Fresh Strikes Deep Inside Saudi Arabia
A Saudi-led air strike on al-Shariyah, Yemen, reportedly killed at least 33 people and injured 39, per Houthi and Saba figures. The UN says over 1,600 have been killed and 300,000 displaced since fighting resumed.
Saudi Arabia said minor damage; authenticated footage shows a floor badly hit
Mark
Why does a hit on one tower in Riyadh matter so much?
Mimi
Because of where it is. The Aramco Tower sits in the capital's central financial district, so this was not a remote oil site. The Houthis have been striking deep inside Saudi Arabia, and this one landed in the middle of the city.
Mark
And Saudi Arabia says the damage was minor?
Mimi
The energy ministry said "minor damage" and no deaths or injuries. But footage authenticated by BBC Verify shows at least one floor badly hit and windows shattered on more than one level.
Luke
Let me separate what's solid there. The footage is authenticated, so the damage is real. What isn't established is the weapon. The report says a missile or drone, not which. And the full extent of the damage isn't known from the footage alone.
Mark
What did the Houthis actually claim?
Mimi
They said they targeted Riyadh's business zone, plus the airport and Aramco oil storage in separate strikes. They never named the tower.
Luke
Right, and the airport and storage claims are the Houthis' own. Saudi Arabia only said its air defences intercepted several missiles. Nothing here independently confirms hits on those two sites.
Mark
Then there's the strike in al-Shariyah the day before.
Mimi
At least 33 people killed, including women and children, with 39 injured. Al Masirah showed rescuers pulling bodies from rubble.
Luke
Those figures come from the Houthis and their agency, and the footage is from their channel. Saudi Arabia hasn't commented. So it's an attributed toll, not a verified one.
Mark
And the wider toll?
Mimi
The UN says more than 1,600 killed and over 300,000 displaced since fighting resumed after the July ceasefire collapse.
Luke
That's the firmest number in the story, and the open question is what Riyadh does next.
O Pulso
- Footage verified by BBC Verify shows at least one floor of the Aramco Tower badly hit, sharply at odds with Riyadh's description of minor damage.
- The Houthis claim strikes on Riyadh airport and Aramco oil storage, while Saudi air defences say they destroyed several incoming missiles.
- A Saudi-led air strike on al-Shariyah reportedly killed at least 33 people, and the attacks in Riyadh arrive as a direct answer to that bloodshed.
- Since the July collapse of the ceasefire and the Houthi maritime embargo, fighting has resumed across Yemen, with over 1,600 dead and 300,000 displaced according to the UN.
- Saudi Arabia has yet to comment on the al-Shariyah strike, and the next move, whether Riyadh retaliates, remains the open question.
On a Saturday in November, missiles or drones struck Riyadh's Aramco Tower, a skyscraper at the heart of the Saudi capital's financial district, and left visible damage that contradicts the official account of minor harm. The Houthis, who claimed the attack through their own news agency, add it to a growing list of strikes reaching deep into Saudi territory. Behind the smoke over Riyadh lies a war more than a decade old, rekindled after an informal truce collapsed in July, in which the cost to ordinary Yemenis is already measured in the thousands.
On Saturday, an air attack hit the Aramco Tower, a skyscraper in the middle of Riyadh's financial district. Authenticated footage shows windows shattered on several levels and at least one floor badly damaged by a missile or drone. The Saudi energy ministry called the damage minor and said no one was hurt, an account the footage does not support.
The Houthis, who control the Saba news agency, said they had targeted Riyadh's business zone, though their statement did not name the tower. They also claimed strikes on the capital's airport and Aramco oil storage. Saudi Arabia says its air defences destroyed several missiles, but it has not said which attacks got through.
The day before, the Houthis accused the Saudi-led coalition of a strike on al-Shariyah, east of Sanaa, that killed at least 33 people, many of them women and children. Rescuers were seen pulling bodies from rubble, and Riyadh has not responded to the accusation.
The war had been quiet for years until the Iran conflict reignited it. The informal ceasefire fell apart in July, after which the Houthis declared a maritime embargo on Saudi Arabia and began attacking airports, oil sites and tankers. Fighting has since resumed across Yemen, and the UN counts more than 1,600 dead and 300,000 displaced. The questions now are whether Saudi Arabia strikes back and whether the conflict spreads beyond its current borders.
On Saturday, an air attack struck the Aramco Tower, a skyscraper in the middle of Riyadh's financial district. Footage authenticated by BBC Verify shows damage to the building, and at least one floor appears to have been badly hit by a missile or drone. Windows on more than one level look shattered.
The Saudi energy ministry gave a smaller account. It said the tower had suffered only "minor damage" and that no one had been killed or injured. The authenticated footage points to something more extensive than that description.
The Houthis, the Yemen-based armed group, confirmed through the Saba news agency, which they control, that they had targeted Riyadh's business zone on Saturday. Their statement did not name the Aramco Tower. They also said they had struck Riyadh's airport and Aramco oil storage facilities in separate attacks. Saudi Arabia said its air defences intercepted and destroyed several missiles. The sources do not say which strikes were stopped or which got through.
The attacks are the latest the Houthis have claimed against targets deep inside Saudi territory, a problem the Gulf power has struggled to contain in recent months.
They came one day after the Houthis accused the Saudi-led coalition of an air strike on Yemen that killed at least 33 people, women and children among them. Al Masirah, the Houthi-run television channel, broadcast footage of rescuers pulling bodies from the rubble of several buildings in al-Shariyah, a town east of the capital, Sanaa. Saba put the number of injured at 39. Saudi Arabia has not commented on the strike.
The background is a conflict more than a decade old. A Saudi-led coalition has fought the Houthis in support of Yemen's internationally recognised government, which has lost control of a large part of the country to the rebels. The war had been largely dormant in recent years, but fighting intensified after the outbreak of the Iran war.
An informal ceasefire came apart in July. The Tehran-backed Houthis announced a "maritime embargo" against Saudi Arabia and began missile and drone attacks on Saudi airports, oil facilities and tankers in the Red Sea. They said they were retaliating for what they call a Saudi blockade of their territory, and for an air strike on Sanaa airport. Saudi Arabia said that strike was meant to stop an Iranian aircraft from landing there.
Major fighting has since resumed between Houthi forces and troops aligned with Yemen's Saudi-backed government. The United Nations says more than 1,600 people have been killed and more than 300,000 displaced since it restarted. The things to watch now are whether Saudi Arabia retaliates for the Riyadh strikes and whether the fighting spreads further.
Citações Notáveis
The tower suffered only minor damage and no one was killed or injured.— Saudi energy ministry
A Saudi-led air strike on al-Shariyah killed at least 33 people, including women and children.— Houthi claim via Saba news agency
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