The Houthis have carried out yet another attack on Riyadh’s international airport – this one coming Sunday evening and leaving more people injured, after the day prior a Houthi missile strike on the travel hub left 12 people dead and over 300 injured. Regional reports say emergency crews battled a fire in the wake of the fresh attack:
A fire broke out at King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh on Sunday after an unidentified projectile struck the airport’s terminal 4 for passengers. Authorities are responding to the scene, the Coalition to Restore Legitimacy in Yemen reported.
Later on Sunday, the Kingdom’s civil aviation authority said the attack resulted in injuries and that damage assessment and safety checks of airport facilities were underway.
Houthi military spokesman Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree announced that these strikes in response to the “brutal Saudi aggression against our country and our people.”
According to CBS News, “The airport remains closed on Sunday and Saudi Arabia moved Riyadh schools online amid the Houthis’ latest threat.” Apparently those among the injured are airport workers, and not travelers, as the airport remains closed and flights have been canceled or diverted. Additionally on Sunday:
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Iran-backed Houthi rebels have not officially claimed responsibility for Saturday’s missile attack on King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh, which killed 12 people and wounded more than 300. The mass-casualty missile strike raises new questions about the effectiveness of Saudi Arabia’s Western-supplied air and missile defenses, including potential gaps in detection, interception, and/or coverage. It also raises the risk of a wider Gulf conflict.
Al Jazeera correspondent Yousef Mawry, reporting from Sanaa, wrote early Sunday that the Saudis face a very uncomfortable reality: repeated airstrikes across Yemen have yet to eliminate the Houthis’ ability to launch missiles and one-way attack drones toward the kingdom.