A reported attack on a Saudi Aramco administrative building in Dhahran triggered a limited fire, Saudi Arabia’s Energy Ministry said, as hostilities involving the kingdom and Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi movement continued to escalate. The incident occurred late on Tuesday, prompting authorities to respond and take the necessary measures, according to the ministry. No casualties were reported. Earlier, a source at the state-owned oil company told Reuters that a ballistic missile had struck the Aramco headquarters complex in the eastern Saudi city. The source said an office tower was hit, with damage reported to its top three floors.

Two other people familiar with the incident also said the building caught fire. The Dhahran complex houses a key operations centre responsible for overseeing Aramco’s extensive energy infrastructure, including onshore and offshore oil fields, pipelines, refineries and export terminals. The reported strike comes amid a series of attacks claimed to be part of the escalating conflict involving the Houthis, who have launched ballistic missiles and drones at strategic Saudi sites over the past week. The attacks are reportedly in retaliation for Riyadh’s support for government forces in Yemen’s renewed civil war.

Saudi Arabia has also faced repeated attacks targeting its aviation infrastructure. Riyadh’s international airport has been struck four times, including an attack on Saturday that killed 13 people, according to the report. The strike was described as the deadliest in the kingdom in a decade, while further attacks led to flight disruptions across the country. Separately, six sources told Reuters they had heard loud explosions near the Aramco complex earlier. The Saudi-led coalition said fragments of a missile that it had intercepted and destroyed in Dhahran had fallen on a residential area, without providing further details.

Authorities also reported that drones and missiles were intercepted and destroyed in the capital, Riyadh, and the country’s southern region. Four people were injured in Riyadh after fragments from two Houthi missiles fell following their interception and destruction, Saudi Civil Defense said on Wednesday. The debris caused limited damage to 15 homes in the capital, the Civil Defense spokesperson said, adding that the injured were two women, a man and a child. 

Credit: Independent News Pakistan (INP)