Three Saudi citizens were killed and several other people “of different nationalities” were injured in attacks targeting Riyadh’s King Khalid International Airport and a Saudia Airlines plane, the kingdom’s civil aviation authority said Friday.
Thursday’s attack was the deadliest in Saudi Arabia since the kingdom and allied forces in neighboring Yemen launched a major military offensive last weekend aimed at retaking territory captured by Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels.
It is a significant escalation in what appears to be the new epicenter of the broader Middle East war sparked by the joint U.S.-Israeli attack on Iran in late February.
The first attack on Thursday afternoon targeted airport facilities, while the second hit the plane, which was empty at the time, the Saudi statement said. Those responsible have not been identified, although the Houthis said they targeted the airport several times this week with ballistic missiles, including on Thursday.
Among the dead was Captain Hamoud Ali Alkalthami, the Saudia group said in a statement seen by the Associated Press. This appears to be the first confirmed attack on the Saudi national carrier since the start of the new offensive against the Houthis.
Saudi Arabia’s aviation agency, GACA, said in its statement that injuries suffered by citizens and people of other nationalities “ranged from minor to serious.”
The Houthis this week warned global airlines “for the last time” about the potential consequences of operating in Saudi airspace, which they have declared a theater of military operations.
On Wednesday, Saudi officials said attacks on Riyadh and Abha airports claimed by the Houthis killed three people.
CBS/AP
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