The financial district of Riyadh was targeted by ballistic missiles launched by the Houthis, eyewitnesses told Agence France-Presse. The Saudi-led coalition said it intercepted missiles fired by Yemen’s Houthis. The building, owned by the oil giant Aramco, sustained damage.
“The Aramco tower in KAFD was targeted; that much is certain,” said one of the eyewitnesses, referring to the city’s financial district (King Abdullah Financial District/KAFD). Two other eyewitnesses confirmed that they saw damage to the building.
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Several floors of the building appeared to have sustained damage, said an eyewitness, who noted broken windows and visible damage to part of the facade.
The Saudi-led coalition had announced earlier that it had intercepted two ballistic missiles fired by the Houthis toward Riyadh, shortly after authorities issued a warning and Agence France-Presse journalists heard loud explosions. It also announced the destruction of two cruise missiles fired toward Riyadh and the southern part of the country.
It was not immediately clear whether the damage to the Aramco building, owned by the Saudi oil giant, was caused by falling debris from the missile interception or by a direct missile strike.
The attacks were launched a few hours after the Saudi Arabian Ministry of Education announced that in-person classes would resume in Riyadh, following several weeks of remote learning in the wake of the recent wave of attacks.
The KAFD financial center (King Abdullah Financial District) is one of the most iconic symbols of the economic and social reforms underway in the kingdom, with its imposing skyscrapers, luxury stores, and green spaces. The area also features residential buildings as well as a metro station that gets particularly busy during rush hour.
Meanwhile, at least 33 people were killed and another 39 were injured in Saudi Arabian airstrikes against the village of Bani Husais, near the Yemeni capital, Sanaa, on Saturday, according to an announcement by the Ministry of Health of the Ansar Allah rebel movement—also known by the surname of its leaders, the Houthis, who are aligned with Iran— in one of the deadliest attacks since the war reignited in the Arab Peninsula’s poorest country in July.
According to information from the Ministry, as reported by the SABA news agency—which is aligned with the Shiite movement—most of the victims are women and children.
Abdul Aziz al-Dailami, a hospital director in Sana’a, stressed that many more victims remained trapped in the rubble, including first responders.
“The bombings were relentless. Just as the ambulances were arriving, another one struck. We lost some of our first-response workers; they were killed,” he told Reuters.
“Injured people in very critical condition, with head, chest, and leg injuries, as well as fractures, were transported to the hospital,” said Mr. al-Dailami.
The Saudi International Communication Center limited itself to stating that it is investigating reports of the bombing.
On the Strait of Hormuz front, two more oil tankers are now ablaze after being struck by sea mines while attempting to cross the strait via"unauthorized routes," according to the official Iranian news agency IRNA.
The agency also reported that “loud noises” that “sounded like explosions” were heard on the night of Saturday into Sunday on the island of Qeshm, which was recently bombed by the U.S. military, in Shirik, Jask, and Bandar Abbas, in the southern part of the country, without providing further details.
According to IRNA, “two oil tankers that violated regulations—one in an area east of the Strait of Hormuz and the other in the strait itself—caught fire, which is raging intensely, as they were attempting to pass through unauthorized routes,” when they were struck by naval mines.
The agency, without mentioning the names or nationalities of the ships, added that the vessels had disabled their navigation and positioning systems.
Tehran has stepped up such announcements in recent weeks. Washington, on the other hand, asserts that most of the sea mines in the strategically important waterway have been removed.
Iran insists that it controls the Strait of Hormuz, through which one-fifth of the world’s exported hydrocarbons passed before the war in the Middle East broke out on February 28, triggered by U.S.-Israeli airstrikes against the Islamic Republic.
It frequently targets ships attempting to cross the strait without permission while sailing near the coast of the Sultanate of Oman.
In retaliation, the U.S. is imposing a blockade on Iranian ports in the Gulf. U.S. warships are also escorting tankers through the strait.
At the same time, negotiations between Washington and Tehran to end the war remain at an impasse.
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Source: KYPE
