Riyadh airport death toll hits three as Houthis widen attacks

Houthi strikes on Riyadh airport left three people dead on Thursday, Saudi authorities said, as the Yemeni group presses its campaign on the kingdom.

The attacks also wounded several people and damaged a Saudia Airlines plane, while smoke rose over the airport. Saudia said one of the dead worked for the airline. Several airlines then scrapped services to Riyadh. The disruption came just days before the city hosts a big meeting of world oil executives.

Flights at Riyadh airport were back to normal later, according to the Saudi civil aviation authority. A flight-tracking site also showed flights gradually resuming, including some by Middle Eastern airlines. Earlier this week, Houthi strikes on other Saudi airports had already killed three people.

Riyadh airport strikes draw a response

In response, the coalition led by Saudi Arabia in Yemen said its forces had wrecked three launch platforms the Houthis used for missiles. Its spokesman, Turki al-Maliki, warned on X that attacks on civilians and civilian sites would draw a firm response.

Meanwhile, Houthi officials and media linked to the group said Saudi aircraft struck the Yemeni capital Sanaa overnight. According to those reports, raids also hit Haradh district in Hajjah province and several areas of Taiz province on Thursday and Friday. Saudi officials and the Yemeni government made no comment on those claims.

Again and again, the Houthis have declared new salvos of ballistic missiles aimed at Saudi Arabia. They have also vowed to shut down Saudi airspace and warned staff at oil facilities that those sites could be next.

A widening war in Yemen

Yemen has fast turned into the bloodiest front of a regional conflict. That war started with US and Israeli strikes on Iran on February 28. It also matters for energy markets, because the Houthis have fired on shipping in the Red Sea and the Bab el-Mandeb Strait while Iran partly blocks the Strait of Hormuz.

Last month, the Houthis swept down the Red Sea coast and seized the coastline around the strait. In response, Saudi Arabia returned to the long-quiet conflict and backed a government counteroffensive. On Monday, government forces regained ground near Bab el-Mandeb after heavy Saudi air strikes. However, the Houthis have surrounded government troops in Taiz, the third-largest city in Yemen. They have also cut a key road into the city, home to over half a million people.

To counter the Houthi threat, Riyadh has turned to Pakistan and Turkey, which share a mutual defence pact with the kingdom. It has also asked allies for wider support to reverse the gains of the group inside Yemen.

Yemen’s conflict began in 2014, when the Houthis took Sanaa and several provinces. A Saudi-led coalition stepped in the following year to back the internationally recognised government. After relative calm under a 2022 truce, fighting flared again in July and spilled into Saudi Arabia. Separately, government troops began a fresh push this week aimed at recapturing every area under Houthi control. For now, flights at Riyadh airport are running again.