Saudi capital airport hit again, sparking evacuations, reports say
The suspected attack comes a day after Yemen's Houthi rebels claimed two deadly attacks on the Riyadh airport.
Saudi capital airport hit again, sparking evacuations, reports say
The Houthis say they are targeting Saudi Arabia over its support for government forces in Yemen's civil war
An international airport in the Saudi capital has reportedly been struck again, only days after Yemen’s Houthi rebels said they had carried out two successful attacks on the facility.
King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh was evacuated after a loud blast was heard on Saturday, according to two international news agencies.
Reuters, citing an eyewitness, reported that more than a dozen ambulances were seen heading rapidly to the airport. Saudi authorities have not commented, while the airport advised passengers to check with their airline before travelling there.
The reported attack came a day after authorities said three Saudi nationals, including a pilot, were killed in two attacks by the Iran-backed Houthis the previous day.
Another three people were killed in Houthi attacks on two Saudi airports on 6 and 7 October.
Those incidents came amid a sharp escalation in renewed fighting between Yemen’s Saudi-backed government forces and the Houthis, who control most of the country’s north-west.
The Houthis say they are targeting Saudi Arabia because of its support for government forces in Yemen’s civil war.
The conflict intensified after the Houthis seized strategically important stretches of the Red Sea coast in a swift offensive.
That included the port of Mokha on the Bab al-Mandab Strait, the narrowest point of the Red Sea and a chokepoint for global shipping. Yemeni pro-government forces have since said they had "secured" the strait at the southern end of the Red Sea.
A Saudi-led coalition was formed in 2015 after Arab countries joined together to stop the Houthis from taking over Yemen from the country’s internationally recognised government.
A temporary ceasefire was brokered in 2022 after years of air strikes and ground fighting that killed hundreds of thousands of people and triggered one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.
But the informal truce began to unravel in July.
The Houthis announced a "maritime embargo" against Saudi Arabia and began missile and drone attacks on Saudi airports, oil facilities and tankers in the Red Sea. They said they were retaliating against what they described as a years-long Saudi blockade and for an air strike on Sanaa airport.