Riyadh government staff told to work from home as Houthi attacks escalate

Government agencies in Riyadh have told employees to work from home from Monday to Thursday as Yemen's Houthis repeatedly attack the Saudi capital, one worker and two consultants told AFP. The Kingdom Centre, a 99-storey downtown tower, has also asked workers to stay away until further notice.

Why are Riyadh employees being told to work from home?

Riyadh employees are working from home because the Houthis have launched near-daily missile and drone attacks on Saudi Arabia, targeting airports, energy facilities and military sites. The strikes reached unprecedented intensity in recent days, particularly at Riyadh airport, where an attack on October 10 killed 13 people.

Which Riyadh offices have been told to work remotely?

On Sunday evening, an employee at a government agency in Riyadh received a message saying "it has been decided to implement remote work from Monday to Thursday this week." The message added: "We ask everyone to continue their activities as normal." Two consultants working for two Saudi government agencies said they had received the same instructions.

One of the consultants told AFP he arrived at his workplace as normal on Monday morning, only to learn that remote work had been mandated. "The email was sent internally. We are consultants, so we didn't receive it. Once on site, we contacted the project manager on the client's side, who informed us," he said.

The Kingdom Centre houses the regional office of the International Monetary Fund. Two other sources told AFP that government offices in skyscrapers in the Al-Olaya district of central Riyadh had been evacuated two weeks earlier. Companies in the King Abdullah Financial District, which hosts offices of major American firms, have also asked employees to work from home, according to other sources.

How have the Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia escalated?

The Houthis' conflict with Saudi Arabia and Yemeni government forces resumed in July after a lull that began in 2022. It opened a new front in the wider Middle East war. In September, the Houthis seized Yemen's Red Sea coastline, tightening their grip on the strategic Bab al-Mandab shipping lane.

The October 10 attack on Riyadh airport injured hundreds and was the deadliest strike on Saudi soil in more than 10 years. In total, 20 people have been killed in attacks targeting airports across Saudi Arabia since the beginning of the month.