Saudi oil giant Aramco has evacuated its headquarters in Dhahran after it recently came under a Houthi ballistic missile attack out of Yemen.
Sources told the AFP and Reuters that the company told remaining staff to evacuate from its headquarters amid two weeks of intensified Houthi attacks across the region.
The City of Dhahran is in the Eastern Province of the country, and is the administrative center for the Saudi oil industry. There are sprawling residential areas for employees near the HQ, but there's nothing to indicate the residential areas have been evacuated too.
Saudi-coalition spokesman Turki al-Maliki had announced on Oct.13: "Interception and destruction of a ballistic missile launched by the terrorist Houthi militia towards the city of Dammam."
Reuters reported at the time, "A source with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters the Aramco headquarters had been struck, though it was unclear if the building had been hit directly or by falling debris."
The Saudis have released little information on what kind of damage was left in the wake of the strike on the Aramco HQ; however, there's this new reporting in AFP and regional media:
Last week, two company employees who also spoke to AFP on condition of anonymity said a tower in the headquarters was struck. The “top three floors were gone,” one of them said.
Houthi attacks on Saudi civilian infrastructure, especially oil facilities and airports, have reached an unprecedented scale in recent weeks.
Twenty-two people have been killed in attacks on Saudi airports this month, according to an AFP tally of official figures.
Much of the staff at Saudi Aramco headquarters had already been working remotely, and it appears more and more are to going to remote desks on an indefinite basis.
"There was an evacuation order issued for these staff, no specific reason was given," a source told AFP.
Airports in the region, and across the Saudi kingdom - including in the capital of Riyadh - have also been under frequent attack. The US Embassy in the capital is currently also evacuating more diplomats and their family members.