Houthis Kill Three in Attacks on Two Airports in Saudi Arabia

The Iran-backed Houthis struck two airports in Saudi Arabia, killing three residents and injuring dozens as the militant group intensifies its attacks on the kingdom while fighting Saudi-backed forces in Yemen.

King Khalid International Airport in the capital Riyadh and Abha airport in the southwestern region came under fire on Tuesday and Wednesday, with the two strikes causing some material damage, the Saudi General Authority of Civil Aviation said in a statement. The Houthis claimed to have attacked both airports.

A Sudanese man was killed in the assault on the Riyadh airport, according to GACA. Five Saudi nationals, two Egyptians and a Pakistani resident were injured.

Two women, Moroccan and Algerian, were killed in the strike on Abha International Airport, where 28 including Saudi citizens sustained injuries ranging from minor to serious.

GACA is working to “assess the damage, verify the safety of the facilities and take the necessary measures to ensure the safety of passengers and maintain the security and safety of operations within the Kingdom’s civil aviation system,” the authority said.

The Saudi-led coalition in Yemen early Wednesday said it intercepted a ballistic missile north of Riyadh that was launched by the Houthis, and later stated it destroyed the launch platform used in the attack.

The attacks on the Saudi airports follow a military campaign triggered by Yemen’s internationally-recognized government, backed by Saudi Arabia, earlier this week to “eliminate” the Houthis. The Yemeni armed forces claimed to have taken control of the Red Sea areas.

The Houthis, one of Tehran’s main proxy militant groups that took over the Yemeni capital Sanaa in 2014, announced a blockade on Saudi ports, claiming the kingdom was besieging parts of Yemen.

Fighting picked up in early September, when the group started firing on Saudi Arabia almost daily and advanced south from their stronghold in north-west Yemen toward the Bab el-Mandeb strait, a key waterway for energy tankers and container ships.