Saudi Arabia's 'heartland' financial district attacked... “Aramco Tower damaged by Houthi attack” (comprehensive)

(Cairo = Yonhap News) Correspondent Kim Sang-hoon = King Abdullah Financial District (KAFD), the heart of Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia, was also attacked by projectiles from Yemen's Houthi rebels. The attack reportedly damaged the building of state-owned oil company Aramco.

The King Abdullah Financial District is a symbolic place that most clearly demonstrates the economic and social reforms being promoted by Saudi Arabia, with its towering skyscrapers, high-end retail stores, and green spaces.

Saudi Arabia's domestic conglomerates as well as global blue-chip companies such as Goldman Sachs are located here.

On the 8th (local time), Reuters and AFP, citing multiple witnesses and related sources, reported that high-rise buildings within KAFD were targeted that day, and that direct damage occurred to the Aramco Tower in particular.

“Today, Saudi Aramco’s administrative building in Riyadh was subjected to an attempted attack,” the Saudi Energy Ministry said in a statement.

He added, “Falling debris from this incident caused minor damage to the building, but fortunately, no injuries or deaths were reported.”

One witness told AFP, "It is clear that the Aramco Tower in KAFD was targeted," and two other witnesses also testified that they personally saw the building damaged.

Reuters also reported that buildings in the area were damaged, citing witnesses at the scene and three sources familiar with the matter.

The attack occurred just hours after the Saudi Ministry of Education announced the resumption of face-to-face classes in Riyadh late on the weekend, on the 7th, after weeks of remote classes in the aftermath of previous airstrikes.

The Saudi-led Arab alliance, which is involved in the civil war in Yemen, previously announced that it had "successfully intercepted a missile fired from the sky by the Houthi rebels targeting Riyadh."

However, it has not yet been specifically confirmed whether the damaged Aramco building was hit directly by the missile or was damaged by falling fragments from a projectile intercepted from above.

Saudi authorities did not immediately respond to media requests for comment on whether there were any casualties or the exact extent of damage to the facility.