Saudi Arabia says it downed 2 Houthi missiles over Riyadh, as debris hits a building and a car

Saudi authorities said on Tuesday, October 27, that they intercepted and destroyed two ballistic missiles fired by Yemen's Houthi rebels at Riyadh, according to an Associated Press report. Witnesses told AP they heard at least four explosions over the capital.

What Saudi Arabia says

Saudi Civil Defence said its Riyadh teams responded to debris from the two missiles, which were destroyed in the air but whose fragments damaged a building, a construction site and a vehicle, Gulf News reported. No casualties or injuries were reported. AP also reported that Saudi air defenses destroyed three Houthi ballistic missiles fired toward the eastern region, that warnings for the capital were later lifted, and that civil defense alerts were announced late Tuesday for the Jeddah and Yanbu areas.

What the Houthis claim

Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree said on X that a ballistic missile hit the Saudi defense ministry headquarters in Riyadh, and the group also claimed a hit on the Ras Tanura refinery in the eastern region. AP said it could not verify those claims. Saudi Arabia did not comment on the refinery claim, and the Saudi accounts we read do not mention damage to the ministry or any refinery. Treat both as unconfirmed claims by one side of the conflict.

We are not reporting a separate AP-attributed claim that Russian satellites helped Iran's allies strike Saudi Arabia, because we could not find it in the AP text we read or confirm it with a second source.

Why it matters to markets

This is the latest in a run of attacks on the capital. On Oct. 25 the coalition said it had destroyed drones and missiles aimed at Riyadh and the south while King Khalid International Airport reopened, per CNBC; see our earlier coverage. Energy infrastructure is the pressure point: any confirmed damage at Ras Tanura would matter for crude supply, but nothing so far confirms it.

In the Yahoo Finance data behind the chart, Brent futures last traded at $110.07, 7.0% below the March 31 peak in the one-year window. Check the contract month before comparing levels across sources.

Watch: whether Saudi authorities address the ministry and Ras Tanura claims, further alerts around Jeddah and Yanbu, and airline and insurer notices on Gulf airspace and shipping.

Sources: AP, Gulf News, CNBC, Yahoo Finance. Claims are attributed to the parties that made them. This is market information, not investment advice.