Riyadh airport hit by fresh Houthi strike

A fresh Houthi strike hit Riyadh’s international airport yesterday, a day after another attack claimed by the Yemeni group killed at least a dozen people, including two Bangladeshis, and forced authorities to suspend operations at the facility.

The Saudi-led coalition in Yemen said an “unidentified projectile” had targeted Riyadh’s international airport Terminal 4, causing a fire. An unspecified number of people were injured, the Saudi civil aviation authority said, adding it was still assessing the damage.

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The coalition also said Saudi air defences had intercepted a cruise missile in the vicinity of King Khalid International Airport.

The strikes have exposed vulnerabilities in Saudi defence capabilities as the kingdom wages an air campaign against the ​Houthis to support a ground war in Yemen by the Yemeni government against the Iran-aligned group.

The airport has been closed since Saturday’s attack. However, a long-planned international energy conference went ahead in Riyadh as planned.

In a televised speech yesterday, Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree claimed responsibility for Saturday’s attack and also said the group had attacked the airport in Dammam in Saudi Arabia’s Eastern Province and two facilities of Saudi oil giant Saudi Aramco.

There was no immediate Saudi confirmation. The Houthis earlier yesterday had ‌renewed their warning to ​airlines, ​airport workers, and ⁠travellers against ​using Saudi ​airports, reports Reuters.

“We urge everyone to take our warnings seriously, and Saudi Arabia bears responsibility for any failed interceptions,” the group said.

Saudi Arabia has stepped up its military involvement in Yemen in recent weeks, launching strikes against the Houthis and backing a Yemeni government counteroffensive after the group seized strategic territory along the Red Sea coast last month.

The Houthis said yesterday that Saudi Arabia carried out 124 air strikes in Yemen in the past 24 hours, including the capital Sanaa and the group’s ​stronghold Saada.

Yemen’s Houthi-run foreign ministry said that further Saudi military action in Yemen would trigger a stronger response, adding that its actions would be guided by the principle of reciprocity.

“Unless the Saudi enemy stops its aggression and interference in Yemen, worse is yet to come, God willing,” the ministry said in statements carried by Houthi-run Al Masirah television.

US President Donald Trump said on Saturday the United States was considering joining Saudi strikes on the Houthis in the conflict, a spillover from the wider war on Iran that the US and Israel launched in February.

The US, Canadian, German and Spanish embassies in Saudi Arabia warned their citizens to avoid the airport. A senior Western diplomat told AFP that several embassies were banning their staff from using the airport “over the next week”.

Schools in Riyadh switched to remote learning for the second time in a month, according to emails seen by AFP that were received by parents.

The Riyadh attack prompted health officials to activate a rare mass call-up of doctors, a medical source said.

European Union chief Ursula von der Leyen called the strike a “dangerous escalation”, while Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif condemned the “heinous attack” and Jordan called it “brutal”.

Meanwhile, a ministerial meeting of the International Energy Forum also went ahead yesterday, with its plenary session to be held behind closed doors, according to a media advisory. No further details were immediately available and it was not clear which ministers joined the meeting.

Italy’s energy minister, Gilberto Pichetto Fratin, whose country was co-hosting the event, had said on Friday he would participate remotely via video link.