Saudi Arabia’s Riyadh airport hit by another Houthi strike day after fatal attack

A fighter loyal to the Houthi authorities, walks past a poster bearing a picture of his group's leader Abdul-Malik al-Houthi during a rally to recruit more fighters, in Sanaa on Oct. 7. The Houthis claimed a flurry of attacks on Saudi targets this weekend. Photo by MOHAMMED HUWAIS /AFP via Getty Images

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

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Saturday’s attack, the deadliest on Saudi soil in more than a decade, was a sharp escalation in the Yemen war, where Riyadh backs the internationally recognized government against the Houthis.

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The Iran-backed group on Sunday claimed multiple attacks over the last 24 hours, including on the airport, and threatened to keep targeting the kingdom’s transit hubs, calling them “a theatre of operations for our forces.”

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Hours later, the Saudi coalition fighting the group reported that a projectile struck King Khalid International Airport, sparking a fire. Air defences also intercepted a missile nearby, it added.

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The civil aviation authority said the attack caused an unspecified number of injuries, and that a damage assessment was underway.

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AFP journalists and locals reported hearing the sound of multiple blasts in the Saudi capital on Sunday.

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“The birds went into a frenzy after the sound. The whole house shook,” said one resident of the Al-Aarid neighbourhood in the north of the city.

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‘Full-fledged war crime’

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The Houthis have stepped up their attacks on the Riyadh airport — where three people were also killed on Thursday — as well as on other key targets in the world’s top crude oil exporter.

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And although Saudi Arabia has poured billions into its military, Houthi attacks continue to slip through.

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“Saudi air defences have been able to intercept some Houthi missile and drone attacks, but Saudi Arabia is so large that it’s simply impossible for them to consistently defend themselves against Houthi attacks,” said Thomas Juneau, security analyst at Ottawa University.

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The anti-Houthi coalition called Saturday’s attack a “full-fledged war crime” and vowed to “respond decisively.”

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Houthi media reported two Saudi strikes in Yemen’s Houthi-controlled Sanaa governorate on Sunday.

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Saturday’s attack drew condemnation from the United Nations and leaders around the world, including U.S. President Donald Trump, who said he was considering joining Saudi strikes against the Houthis.

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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whose country does not have diplomatic relations with Saudi Arabia, also denounced the “horrific terrorist attack.”

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Four Saudi citizens, two Bangladeshis, one American, one Egyptian, one Jordanian, one Syrian, one Palestinian and one Sudanese were killed, the civil aviation authority said, with 309 wounded.

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The Indian embassy in Saudi Arabia also said one of its citizens died on Sunday after being wounded the day before.