BEIRUT (AP) — An airline pilot was one of three Saudi Citizens were killed in attacks targeting Riyadh’s King Khalid International Airport and a Saudia plane, the kingdom’s civil aviation authority said Friday. Several people “of different nationalities” were injured.
Thursday’s attacks were the deadliest in Saudi Arabia since the kingdom and allied forces in neighboring Yemen launched an offensive. major military offensive against Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels last weekend.
They also marked a significant escalation the last front in the Iranian Warwho kept oil prices and financial markets are volatile. U.N. special envoy Hans Grundberg was expected to brief the Security Council on developments in Yemen later Friday.
As of Friday afternoon, at least 124 flights to and from Riyadh had been canceled after hundreds more were canceled a day earlier, according to flight tracking site FlightAware.
Air India, FlyDubai, Lufthansa Group and Pakistan International Airlines were among the airlines that suspended flights to and from Riyadh and other Saudi airports for the next few days due to the situation in the Middle East.
The European Union Aviation Safety Agency has expanded its guidelines on Saudi airspace, noting the Houthis’ ability to strike targets deeper inside the kingdom, including Riyadh, and a “greater focus on air infrastructure.”
The latest guidance adds that “recurring missile and drone attacks, as well as the activation of air defense systems, create an increased risk of misidentification of civilian aircraft, as well as risks associated with missile and drone overflights, interception activities and falling debris.”
Yemen’s Houthis claim attack
The first attack targeted airport facilities on Thursday, while the second hit the plane, the Saudi press release said. However, those responsible have not been identified. the Houthis claimed having targeted the airport with a ballistic missile.
Among the dead was Captain Hamoud Ali Alkalthami, the Saudia group said in a statement. This appears to be the first confirmed attack on the Saudi national carrier since the new offensive began. A separate statement from Saudia Group said one of its planes was damaged while on the ground with no passengers on board.
The aviation statement also said that injuries suffered by citizens and people of other nationalities “ranged from minor to serious.” The Saudia Group statement later said operational activities at the airport had returned to normal.
Meanwhile, the Saudi-led coalition fighting the Houthis said it had destroyed three rocket launch platforms used by the rebels to threaten regional security.
Saudi-led coalition bombs Houthi-held Yemen capital
Residents of Yemen’s capital Sanaa heard loud explosions overnight Friday as intense fighting between the Houthis and Saudi-led forces continued.
Anees al-Asbahi, a spokesman for the Houthi-led health ministry, told X that two of the nighttime strikes on Sanaa carried out by the Saudi-led coalition injured six people, including a child.
Saudi authorities have not confirmed the strikes on Sanaa.
Mohamed al-Jabir, the Saudi ambassador to Yemen, said in a message on X on Friday that the Bab el-Mandeb Strait had been “cleaned” of Houthi remnants. He did not provide further details.
Protesters gathered in several Houthi-held cities in Yemen on Friday to denounce Saudi Arabia and its supporters.
Meanwhile, Saudi allies including Kuwait and Pakistan condemned the attack on Riyadh airport. The Kuwaiti Foreign Ministry said the kingdom’s security was “an inseparable part of the security” of Kuwait and the Gulf Cooperation Council countries.
Pakistan said it was doing its military capabilities available in Saudi Arabia to fight the Houthis under a new mutual defense agreement with Saudi Arabia and Turkey. Foreign Ministry spokesperson Sajjad Haider Khan told reporters in Islamabad that Saudi Arabia had “the legitimate right to defend its people and protect its critical infrastructure.”
Riyadh airport repeatedly targeted
The Saudi capital’s airport has been the target of repeated attacks in recent days. This week, the Houthis warned global airlines “for the last time” about the potential consequences of operating in Saudi airspace, which they described as the theater of their military operations.
On Wednesday, Saudi officials said attacks claimed by the Houthis on airports in Riyadh and Abha had killed three people.
Saudi Arabia faces increasing attacks from the Houthis, who declared a blockade of the kingdom earlier this year in response to one imposed on them.
The kingdom has sought support from its allies, including the United States. Officials said U.S. assistance included sharing intelligence, identifying targets and planning the latest offensive.
But the president Donald Trump has been reluctant to expand U.S. military involvement in the Middle East and, so far, has not ordered U.S. forces to resume strikes against the rebels.
Last year, the United States carried out a nearly two-month campaign of airstrikes against the Houthis in an effort to open international shipping lanes in the Red Sea.
The Houthis have disrupted the waterway for months with their own attacks in response to the blockade imposed by Israel on the Gaza Strip. Asset interrupted strikes after the US military burned through hundreds of millions of dollars in munitions.
Connecticut Sen. Chris Murphy, who met with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Riyadh earlier this week, told reporters Thursday that he was concerned the Saudis did not have a clear endgame for the military campaign.
“From my discussions with Mohammed bin Salman, I have the impression that they are going to go as far as they can,” Murphy said. “And I think ultimately the goal is another truce and a political settlement, but they don’t have clear war objectives at the moment.”
The new Saudi-led offensive aims to retake territories captured by the Houthis a month ago along Yemen’s western Red Sea coast and in the strategic Bab el-Mandeb Strait. Their presence threatens a crucial alternative shipping route to the Strait of Hormuz, where Iranian attacks on shipping have reduced traffic.
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Anna reported from Jerusalem. Associated Press writers Fatma Khaled in Cairo, Munir Ahmed in Islamabad, Farnoush Amiri in New York and Aamer Madhani in Jerusalem contributed to this report.
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