Houthi strikes on Saudi airports have killed at least 20 people in a week. Riyadh’s airport remains closed.
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia – Attacks by Yemen’s Houthis on Saudi airports have killed at least 20 people and wounded hundreds over the past week, and King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh remained closed on Monday. Saudi Arabia said it intercepted and destroyed three Houthi ballistic missiles that day. The Houthis have claimed responsibility for the strikes on the airport, the second busiest in the kingdom after Jeddah.
The deadliest attack came Saturday, when a missile strike on King Khalid killed 13 people and wounded more than 300, Saudi authorities said, in what Al Jazeera described as the deadliest assault on Saudi soil in more than a decade. Early Saudi reports put the death toll at 12. A further attack on Sunday killed a Pakistani resident and wounded 11 others. Saudi authorities said earlier attacks between Tuesday and Thursday killed six people and wounded dozens, including a pilot among three people killed at King Khalid on Thursday.
Two regional officials told the Associated Press that Saudi Arabia has opened an investigation into how its air defenses failed to intercept a barrage of missiles and drones, including those that hit the Riyadh airport. Saudi Arabia has also launched new strikes on the Houthis, and CBS News reported that President Donald Trump said he was considering joining them. A Houthi official has threatened the United States if it does so. The Houthi-run Health Ministry said Monday that Saudi attacks across 13 provinces have killed 107 people and wounded 278 since Sept. 3. That figure has not been independently verified.
The UK, France and Germany have warned their citizens to avoid Riyadh. Lufthansa has canceled all flights to the city until Oct. 16, and Air France-KLM has extended its suspension of services until the end of the month. Operations at the airport remained suspended Monday.
This report draws on information from the Saudi General Authority of Civil Aviation, CBS News, CNN, Al Jazeera, Democracy Now and the Associated Press.