New Explosions Rock Riyadh as Airport Reopens Amid Houthi Attacks
- Explosions rocked Riyadh as Houthi rebels continued their aerial campaign against Saudi Arabia while the capital's international airport prepared to resume flights following a two-week closure.
- Three explosions echoed across the Saudi capital on the morning of Sunday, according to an on-the-scene journalist for the AFP.
- The airport closure followed a lethal October 10 strike on a passenger terminal that killed 13 people and injured hundreds.
Explosions rocked Riyadh as Houthi rebels continued their aerial campaign against Saudi Arabia while the capital’s international airport prepared to resume flights following a two-week closure.
Explosions Shake Riyadh Amid Reopening Plans
Three explosions echoed across the Saudi capital on the morning of Sunday, according to an on-the-scene journalist for the AFP. Residents received telephone alerts warning of an aerial threat and urging them to seek shelter. The security alerts coincided with the scheduled reopening of King Khalid International Airport after a two-week shutdown triggered by repeated strikes.
A Houthi attack on Riyadh airport killed at least 12 people and injured more than 300. The Saudi-led coalition fighting the Houthis in Yemen called the missile strike a ‘war crime’, which has been condemned by the UN, Qatar, Pakistan, Canada and others. pic.twitter.com/X0sSVAzLvC
The airport closure followed a lethal October 10 strike on a passenger terminal that killed 13 people and injured hundreds. On Saturday, the airport announced that flights would resume for Sunday. Flight tracking data from FlightRadar24 confirmed that a Saudia passenger aircraft departed the capital for Jeddah on Sunday morning. The scale of the attacks targeting Riyadh in recent weeks is unprecedented since the war in Yemen began in 2014, pitting the Houthis against government forces, while the Houthis, supported by Iran, and the Saudi-led military coalition exchange near-daily strikes following the resumption of the Yemeni conflict in July.
Missile Interceptions Across the Kingdom
The Saudi-led military coalition reported intercepting multiple incoming projectiles across the country as the cross-border strikes intensified. On Sunday, the coalition announced it shot down a ballistic missile heading toward Riyadh, followed by another missile aimed at Khamis Mushait in the south of the kingdom. Coalition forces also intercepted two drones in the region of the capital. An inhabitant of Khamis Mushait, a city that hosts an air base, declared to the AFP on Sunday under condition of anonymity: The bombardments are very intense since this morning, may God protect us. Everything is shaking because of the explosions.
Alerts were also issued in the neighboring city of Abha and other regions in the south of the country.
These defenses follow a heavy barrage on Saturday, when the coalition announced it intercepted three ballistic missiles targeting Riyadh, Taïf, and the Red Sea oil terminal of Yanbu, alongside a drone in an eastern province. Meanwhile, the Houthi-run Al-Masirah television network claimed that Saudi airstrikes on Sanaa killed 17 people, though Riyadh did not comment on the reported casualties.
Houthi Warnings Over King Khalid Airport
Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree issued a direct warning to the aviation sector on Sunday, urging airlines to avoid King Khalid International Airport because the facility serves as a military target. Saree stated that the Saudi regime would bear the consequences of any activity at the airport, as well as any resulting repercussions, having previously indicated on Saturday that his movement had targeted the airport once again without any comment from Riyadh.
Under the airport’s revised operating layout for its reopening, Terminal 1 is designated for domestic flights while Terminal 2 handles international flights operated by national carriers. Despite these logistical adjustments, the renewed threats from Houthi forces leave operations under severe security strain as the conflict, which launched in 2014 with the Houthi capture of Sanaa and resumed in July after a four-year truce, continues alongside the broader Middle East war triggered in late February by Israeli-American strikes against Tehran.