One person was killed and 11 others were hurt on Sunday in an attack on Riyadh’s international airport, Saudi authorities said. The incident came a day after a strike claimed by Yemen’s Houthis left 13 people dead and more than 300 wounded.
Saudi-led coalition forces operating in Yemen said an unidentified projectile hit Terminal 4 at King Khalid International Airport and set off a fire. The kingdom’s civil aviation authority confirmed the death and the 11 injuries.
Saudi air defences intercept missiles and drones
Coalition forces said Saudi air defences had brought down a cruise missile flying near King Khalid International Airport. They later said a drone had been intercepted and destroyed in the Eastern Province, and that a ballistic missile aimed at Khamis Mushait had also been stopped.
Emergency alerts were issued early on Monday in Abha, in southern Saudi Arabia. The Saudi Civil Defense later said the threat had passed.
The recent strikes have highlighted weaknesses in Saudi air defence, as the kingdom keeps up its air campaign against the Houthis. The group is fighting a ground war against a government that Riyadh supports.
Saudi state television broadcast footage of Saturday’s assault on the Riyadh airport. It showed large numbers of religious pilgrims queued at a gate, preparing to travel to the two holiest sites in Islam. A bright orange flash sent people fleeing in panic, and parts of the roof appeared to collapse.
The airport was closed after that attack, which was the deadliest in the kingdom in more than a decade. Saudi authorities said four of the dead were Saudis and the rest were foreign nationals. Including Sunday’s attack, the death toll at Riyadh’s airport reached 18 for the week.
Houthis claim strikes on Dammam airport and Aramco sites
In a televised speech on Sunday, Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree claimed responsibility for Saturday’s attack. He also said the group had struck the airport in Dammam, in the Eastern Province, and two facilities belonging to Saudi Aramco. The Saudi government’s media office and Aramco did not respond to requests for comment.
The civil aviation authority confirmed a strike on King Fahd International Airport in Dammam late on Sunday, adding that damage assessments and safety inspections were under way. An eyewitness aboard a taxiing aircraft told reporters that, around 8:30 p.m. local time (1730 GMT), a projectile hit the tarmac beside several parked planes and caused a fire. The aircraft returned to the gate, and passengers were told to leave.
A flight-tracking service recorded several delays and cancellations at Dammam, the kingdom’s third-largest airport, on Sunday. Earlier that day the Houthis had renewed their warning against using Saudi airports. The group said it urged everyone to take its warnings seriously and that Saudi Arabia would bear responsibility for any failed interceptions.
Britain’s embassy in Riyadh advised British citizens, in a post on X, to avoid all but essential travel to Jeddah, Dammam and every airport in the kingdom except Medina. US aviation authorities told American airlines to exercise caution when flying to or over Saudi Arabia.
Regional escalation draws US and Iranian responses
Saudi Arabia has recently increased its military role in Yemen, striking the Houthis and supporting a government counteroffensive. The move followed the Houthis’ seizure of strategic territory along the Red Sea coast last month. The Houthis said on Sunday that Saudi Arabia had carried out 124 air strikes in Yemen over the previous 24 hours.
Yemen’s Houthi-run foreign ministry, speaking through statements carried by Al Masirah television, warned that “worse is yet to come, God willing” unless Saudi Arabia halted what it called aggression and interference in Yemen.
US President Donald Trump said on Saturday that Washington was considering joining Saudi strikes on the Houthis. The conflict is a spillover from the wider war with Iran, which the United States and Israel launched in February. In a post on Telegram, Iran’s foreign minister Abbas Araqchi said he had told his Saudi counterpart that Tehran was ready to help facilitate dialogue between Saudi Arabia and Yemen.
Energy conference goes ahead as Riyadh schools go remote
A five-day conference hosted by the energy organisation WPC Energy opened as planned on Sunday at a convention centre about 10 km (6 miles) from the Riyadh airport, the Saudi energy ministry said. A ministerial meeting of the International Energy Forum also went ahead, according to a ministry media advisory, although it was not clear which ministers attended.
Italy’s energy minister, Gilberto Pichetto Fratin, whose country was co-hosting the event, had said on Friday that he would take part remotely by video link. German officials, meanwhile, were trying to arrange a return flight for economy minister Katherina Reiche, who was due to travel from Riyadh to Berlin on Monday. The ministry said her flight appeared likely to be unable to take off.
Separately, Saudi authorities moved in-person classes at schools in Riyadh to remote learning from Sunday through Thursday.
