Loud explosions shook the Saudi capital Riyadh on Sunday morning, 8 November 2026, after Yemen's Houthi rebels fired missiles towards the city, in one of the most direct attacks on the Saudi capital in the revived Yemen war. Saudi Arabia's Civil Defence issued an early-warning alert for the Riyadh region shortly before the booms were heard, and later announced that the danger had passed.
The Saudi-led coalition fighting Yemen's Houthis said it intercepted and destroyed two ballistic missiles fired by the rebel group towards Riyadh. Later, the coalition said it had also intercepted two cruise missiles in Riyadh and the southern region. Reuters reported the interceptions after witnesses in the capital heard multiple loud booms.
ARAMCO TOWER DAMAGED
Despite the interceptions, a tower in the King Abdullah Financial District (KAFD) — Riyadh's financial heart — was damaged by a projectile. Multiple witnesses told the AFP news agency that the district had been targeted and the area's Aramco building had been damaged. Reuters quoted one witness and three people briefed on the matter as saying the tower was hit.
Saudi Arabia's Energy Ministry confirmed that debris fell on the Aramco building, causing limited material damage. No casualties have been reported, the ministry said.
Earlier on Sunday morning, the coalition said it had intercepted a ballistic missile launched towards the kingdom's Eastern region. Saudi Civil Defence also issued alerts in Dhahran — home to oil giant Aramco's headquarters — as well as Dammam, Abqaiq and Al-Ahsa, before later saying the danger had passed in all of them.
WHY IT HAPPENED NOW
The attack came a day after the Houthis claimed they had launched six operations targeting Aramco oil facilities in Khurais, Riyadh airport, Saudi troops in Najran and military facilities on both sides of the border. The group, which is fighting the Saudi-led coalition backing Yemen's internationally recognised government, has stepped up its attacks as fighting in Yemen's civil war has intensified again.
On the other side, the Houthi health ministry said the death toll from Saudi-led coalition airstrikes on the village of Al Shariyah, east of the Yemeni capital Sanaa, had risen to 33 people, with at least 39 others wounded. The strikes on Saturday had targeted homes, roads, paramedics and civil defence teams, according to the ministry. The United Nations says more than 1,600 people have been killed and more than 300,000 displaced since fighting resumed in Yemen in July.
The missile attack on Riyadh is the latest sign of how the region's conflicts are spilling across borders. It comes amid a wider confrontation around Iran — the United States said on Saturday that its forces had fired on and disabled a commercial vessel, the M/V Huda, that tried to break the US naval blockade of Iran in the Gulf of Oman, while US Vice President JD Vance has spent the past two weeks personally involved in indirect talks with Iran aimed at a ceasefire.
For now, Saudi authorities say the immediate danger in Riyadh has passed, but the damage to the Aramco tower in the capital's financial district shows that the Houthis can now reach deep into the kingdom — and that the Yemen war, quiet for long stretches, is back at the centre of the region's security crisis.
Sources: Dawn live updates, Reuters and AFP.
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ROMAN URDU VERSION:
Itwaar ki subah, 8 November 2026, Saudi dar-ul-hukumat Riyadh mein zor daar dhamakon ki awazein sunai di jab Yemen ke Houthi baghiyon ne sheher ki taraf missiles daaghe — Yemen ki dobara bharak utthi jang mein Saudi dar-ul-hukumat par honay wala sab se seedha hamla. Saudi Civil Defence ne dhamakon se kuch der pehle Riyadh ke liye early-warning alert jari kiya tha, aur baad mein elaan kiya ke khatra khatam ho gaya hai.
Yemen ke Houthiyon se larnay wali Saudi-led coalition ne kaha ke us ne Riyadh ki taraf daaghe gaye do ballistic missiles ko rok kar tabah kar diya. Baad mein coalition ne kaha ke us ne Riyadh aur janubi ilaqay mein do cruise missiles bhi intercept kiye. Reuters ne ye khabar di jab dar-ul-hukumat mein rehne walon ne kayi zor daar dhamake sune.
ARAMCO TOWER KO NUQSAN
Interception ke bawajood, Riyadh ke King Abdullah Financial District (KAFD) — sheher ka mali markaz — mein aik tower aik projectile se nuqsan pahuncha. Kayi gawahon ne AFP ko bataya ke financial district ko nishana banaya gaya aur Aramco ki imarat ko nuqsan pahuncha. Saudi Energy Ministry ne tasdeeq ki ke imarat par malba gira jis se mehdood mawaad nuqsan hua; koi jani nuqsan nahi hua.
Is se pehle itwaar ki subah coalition ne kaha tha ke us ne mashriqi ilaqay ki taraf daagha gaya aik ballistic missile bhi rok liya tha. Dhahran — jahan Aramco ka headquarter hai — Dammam, Abqaiq aur Al-Ahsa mein bhi alerts jari kiye gaye thay, aur baad mein kaha gaya ke wahan bhi khatra khatam ho gaya.
Hamla us waqt hua hai jab aik din pehle Houthiyon ne daawa kiya tha ke unhon ne Khurais mein Aramco ki oil tansibat, Riyadh airport aur Najran mein Saudi faujiyon par chhe operations kiye. Doosri taraf, Houthi health ministry ke mutabiq Sanaa ke mashriq mein Al Shariyah gaon par Saudi-led coalition ke fazai hamlo mein halakaton ki tadad 33 ho gayi hai, aur kam az kam 39 zakhmi hain. United Nations ke mutabiq July se laraai dobara shuru honay ke baad Yemen mein 1,600 se zyada afrad halak aur 300,000 se zyada be-ghar ho chuke hain.
Riyadh par ye missile hamla is baat ki taaza nishani hai ke ilaqay ke tanazaat sarhadon se paar phail rahe hain. Saudi hakaam ke mutabiq Riyadh mein fori khatra khatam ho gaya hai, lekin financial district mein Aramco tower ko nuqsan ye dikhata hai ke Houthi ab mamlikat ke andar tak pohanch sakte hain — aur Yemen ki jang dobara ilaqay ki security ke markaz mein aa gayi hai.
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