Saudi authorities say 3 killed in Houthi-claimed attacks on Riyadh airport
BEIRUT (AP) — An airline pilot was among three Saudi citizens killed in attacks targeting Riyadh’s King Khalid International Airport and a Saudia aircraft, the kingdom’s civil aviation authority said Friday. Several people “of different nationalities” were wounded.
Thursday’s attacks were the deadliest in Saudi Arabia since the kingdom and allied forces in neighboring Yemen launched a major military offensive against Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels last weekend.
The attacks also marked a significant escalation on the latest front in the Iran war, which has kept oil prices and financial markets volatile.
U.N. special envoy Hans Grundberg said on Friday that the situation in Yemen remained “highly fluid,” with civilians bearing the brunt of escalating violence in a country already facing dire humanitarian conditions and food insecurity.
“Ongoing instability in the Middle East continues to impact dynamics in Yemen, while developments in Yemen, in turn, reverberate across the region,” he told the U.N. Security Council.
By Friday afternoon, at least 124 flights to and from Riyadh had been canceled after hundreds more were canceled a day earlier, according to flight-tracking site FlightAware.
Air India, FlyDubai, Lufthansa Group and Pakistan International Airlines were among the airlines that suspended flights to and from Riyadh and other Saudi airports for next few days due to the situation in the Middle East.
The European Union Aviation Safety Agency has expanded its guidance on Saudi airspace, noting the Houthis’ ability to strike targets deeper inside the kingdom, including Riyadh, and a “greater focus on aviation infrastructure.”
The latest guidance adds that “recurrent missile and drone attacks, together with the activation of air-defense systems, create an increased risk of misidentification of civil aircraft, as well as risks associated with missile and drone overflights, interception activity and falling debris.”
The first attack on Thursday targeted airport facilities, while the second struck the aircraft, the Saudi statement said. It did not identify those responsible, though the Houthis claimed to have targeted the airport with a ballistic missile.
Among the dead was Capt. Hamoud Ali Alkalthami, the Saudia Group said in a statement. It appeared to be the first confirmed attack on the Saudi national carrier since the new offensive began. A separate Saudia Group statement said one of its aircraft was damaged while it was on the ground, with no passengers on board.
The aviation statement also said the injuries to citizens and people of other nationalities “ranged from minor to serious.” The Saudia Group statement later said operational activities at the airport had returned to normal.
Meanwhile, the Saudi-led coalition fighting the Houthis said it had destroyed three rocket launch platforms used by the rebels to threaten regional security.
Residents in Yemen’s capital of Sanaa heard heavy explosions overnight into Friday as intense fighting between the Houthis and Saudi-led forces continued.
Anees al-Asbahi, spokesperson for the Houthi-run Health Ministry, said on X that two of the overnight strikes on Sanaa by the Saudi-led coalition injured six people, including a child.
Saudi authorities have not confirmed the strikes on Sanaa.
Mohamed al-Jabir, the Saudi ambassador to Yemen, in a posting on X on Friday claimed that the Bab el-Mandeb Strait had been “cleansed” from Houthi remnants. He didn’t provide further details.
Protesters gathered in several Houthi-held cities in Yemen on Friday to denounce Saudi Arabia and its backers.
Meanwhile, Saudi allies, including Kuwait and Pakistan, condemned the attack on the Riyadh airport. The Kuwaiti Foreign Ministry said the kingdom's security “an inseparable part of the security” of Kuwait and the Gulf Cooperation Council countries.
Pakistan has said it's making its military capabilities available to Saudi Arabia to fight the Houthis under a new mutual defense pact with Saudi Arabia and Turkey. Foreign Ministry spokesman Sajjad Haider Khan told reporters that the country's troops stationed in Saudi Arabia would not enter Yemen to attack the Iran-backed Houthis but would defend the kingdom’s territory and sovereignty.
The airport in the Saudi capital has come under repeated attack in recent days. This week, the Houthis warned global airlines “for the last time” about the potential consequences of operating in Saudi airspace, which they described as a theater for their military operations.
On Wednesday, Saudi officials said Houthi-claimed attacks on airports in Riyadh and Abha had killed three people.
Saudi Arabia faces mounting attacks from the Houthis, who declared a blockade of the kingdom earlier this year in response to one imposed on them.
The kingdom has sought support from allies, including the United States. Officials said U.S. assistance has included intelligence sharing, target identification and planning for the latest offensive.
But President Donald Trump has shown reluctance to expand U.S. military involvement in the Middle East and, for now, has not ordered American forces to resume strikes against the rebels.
The U.S. last year carried out a nearly two-month airstrike campaign against the Houthis in an effort to open international shipping lanes in the Red Sea.
The Houthis had disrupted the waterway for months with their own attacks in response to Israel mounting a blockade on the Gaza Strip. Trump halted strikes after the U.S. military burned through hundreds of millions of dollars in munitions.
Connecticut Sen. Chris Murphy, who met with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Riyadh earlier this week, told reporters Thursday that he was concerned the Saudis lacked a clear endgame for the military campaign.
“My sense from talking to Mohammed bin Salman is that they are going to push as far as they can,” Murphy said. “And I think eventually the goal is another truce and a political settlement, but they don’t have clear war objectives right now.”
The new Saudi-led offensive aims to retake territory the Houthis seized a month ago along Yemen’s western Red Sea coast and the strategic Bab el-Mandeb Strait. Their presence there threatens a crucial alternative shipping route to the Strait of Hormuz, where Iranian attacks on ships have curtailed traffic.
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Anna reported from Jerusalem. Associated Press writers Fatma Khaled in Cairo, Munir Ahmed in Islamabad, Farnoush Amiri in New York, and Aamer Madhani in Jerusalem contributed to this report.
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