Houthis warn airlines off Saudi airports as Riyadh is struck again
King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh stayed closed on Sunday, October 11, a day after 13 people were killed there, and Saudi officials named no attacker for the new strike.
Key takeaways
A projectile struck a passenger terminal at Riyadh's main airport on Sunday, and the airport stayed closed a day after an attack there killed 13 people. Yemen's Houthis warned airlines, workers and travelers to stay off Saudi airports and airspace.
"They are exposed to targeting and are a theatre of operations by our forces," Brigadier General Yahya Saree, the group's military spokesman, said. He exempted the airports in Mecca and Medina, Islam's two holiest cities.
Major General Turki al-Malki, spokesman for the Saudi-led coalition fighting Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen, said an unidentified projectile hit Terminal 4 at King Khalid International Airport and started a fire that emergency teams were working to contain. In a statement minutes later, he said air defenses had intercepted and destroyed a cruise missile near the airport.
The General Authority of Civil Aviation said people were injured. The number of injuries, and the weapon, are not yet known.
India's embassy in Riyadh said an Indian national injured on Saturday died on Sunday, and that he is among the 13. More than 300 people were wounded in Saturday's strike.
The aviation authority said King Fahd International Airport in Dammam, in the Eastern Province, was targeted on Sunday evening and that safety inspections were under way. A person aboard a taxiing aircraft told Reuters a projectile struck the tarmac beside parked aircraft around 8:30 p.m. Saudi time and started a fire. The coalition said air defenses had intercepted and destroyed a drone in that province.
The Houthis claimed Saturday's deadly strike. Saudi officials have not named an attacker for the projectile that hit the Riyadh terminal on Sunday.
On Sunday, Saree said in a televised statement that the group had carried out four operations over the previous 24 hours. He named Riyadh's airport, Dammam's airport, and two sites of Saudi Aramco, the state oil company, in the Eastern Province, the Shedgum gas facility and the Tanajib plant. The Houthis said the Riyadh attacks came in three phases starting Friday evening and closed the airport.
Emirates, Etihad and Air Arabia canceled flights to Riyadh.
"Rather than pushing Riyadh to step back, attacks on critical Saudi infrastructure could make the Saudis more determined to continue the campaign," said Ahmed Nagi, senior analyst for Yemen at the International Crisis Group.
After Saturday's attack, President Donald Trump told reporters, "What happened in Saudi Arabia is not acceptable." Of joining Saudi strikes on the Houthis, he said, "We may. We're going to look at it."
Saudi Arabia's main stock index, the Tadawul All Share Index, closed Sunday at 10,360.74, down 0.15% from Thursday, October 8. It opened 0.8% lower, the first session since Saturday's attack, and made back most of that fall. The exchange does not trade on Friday or Saturday.
Brent crude reached $105.63 a barrel on Sunday and was at $103.59 in electronic trading at 7:53 p.m. Eastern time, down 1.1% from Friday.
Frequently asked questions
Is Riyadh's main airport still closed?
King Khalid International Airport stayed closed on Sunday after a projectile struck a passenger terminal.
Did the Houthis claim the new strike on Riyadh?
The Houthis said the Riyadh attacks came in three phases and closed the airport, but Saudi officials named no attacker for Sunday's projectile.
Did the warning cover every Saudi airport?
The Houthi spokesman exempted the airports in Mecca and Medina, Islam's two holiest cities.
Which airlines canceled flights to Riyadh?
Emirates, Etihad and Air Arabia canceled flights to Riyadh.
