PNN – Saudi Arabia has ordered the evacuation of employees from Riyadh’s central financial district due to concerns about a possible missile or drone attack.
According to the report of Pakistan News Network; Riyadh has ordered companies in the King Abdullah Financial District, home to US companies, to immediately evacuate their employees.
Companies were ordered to immediately evacuate office towers in the King Abdullah Financial District (KAFD) on April 2 and were asked not to bring back employees until at least April 6, according to people familiar with the matter and a notice obtained by US media outlet Semaphore.
The evacuation order affected the kingdom’s sovereign wealth fund and the offices of international banks. The KAFD area is home to American firms such as Goldman Sachs and Deloitte.
Some other prominent commercial buildings in Riyadh, including the Al Faisaliyah Tower, home to JPMorgan and Apple, were also evacuated over the weekend, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Some companies with offices in the financial district said they had received informal instructions not to send staff to the area for several weeks.
Saudi Arabia has spent the past five years trying to attract foreign companies to set up regional offices in Riyadh and has now threatened to cancel government contracts with them if they refuse.