RIYADH: Saudi Arabia has said it will “firmly” retaliate against an attack on Riyadh’s international airport on Saturday in which at least 12 people were killed, as Yemen’s Houthis claimed a new attack on Saudi’s main air hub on Sunday which resulted in fresh injuries.
The Saudi General Authority of Civil Aviation said the attack on Sunday evening targeted King Khalid International Airport and had “resulted in injuries”, without elaborating. A Saudi-led coalition fighting the Iran-aligned group earlier said an “unidentified projectile” struck a passenger terminal at the airport, causing a fire, adding that Saudi air defences also intercepted a missile.
The coalition on Sunday described the attack the previous day as a “full-fledged war crime”.
It comes amid escalating fighting between the Houthis and Saudi-backed Yemeni government forces following the collapse of a United Nations-brokered ceasefire largely in place since 2022.
The fighting has raised fears of a wider regional confrontation, with Trump suggesting the US could join Saudi military operations against the Houthis.
Dania Thafer, executive director at the Gulf International Forum, said Saudi Arabia will likely hit back at the Houthis “pretty hard”.
“I still think that the Saudis probably want de-escalation. They don’t want long-term escalation, but the Houthis are making it very difficult by not only being a threat to Saudi national security but also a threat to international maritime security,” Thafer said. “So this battle is much bigger than just a tit-for-tat.”
