All office staff at the Kingdom Centre—a prominent 99-story commercial building in Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia—have been ordered to work from home until further notice. No specific reason was provided for this decision. The directive comes one week after a major attack by the Houthis on Riyadh’s international airport.
The conflict between the Saudi-led coalition and the Iran-backed Houthis, which has persisted for over a decade, has intensified once again amidst rising tensions between the United States and Iran. Reports of attacks from both sides are emerging regularly.
Located in the heart of Riyadh, the Kingdom Centre houses offices for various organizations, including the financial services firm Merrill Lynch, the management consulting firm McKinsey, and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
In an email to tenants, the building’s management stated that remote work has been made mandatory for all office staff, effective immediately. This policy will remain in place until further notice, and employees have been instructed not to report to the office in person. However, the shopping mall on the ground floor of the complex remains open.
Meanwhile, the duration of remote learning in schools has been extended. Riyadh’s international airport also remains closed following last week’s attack.
The directive regarding the Kingdom Centre was issued shortly after reports emerged of the deaths of two Saudi-led coalition helicopter pilots in the Najran region, near the Yemeni border. While the coalition attributed the incident to a technical malfunction, the Houthis claimed to have shot down an Apache helicopter in the area.
According to the Saudi Press Agency, coalition spokesperson Turki al-Maliki stated that an AH-6i reconnaissance helicopter belonging to the Ministry of National Guard crashed within Saudi territory in the Najran region due to a technical failure, resulting in the deaths of the two officers on board. Meanwhile, late Saturday night, Houthi spokesperson Yahya Saree claimed that their fighters had shot down a Saudi military Apache helicopter in the same area.
