Saudi Arabia says Houthi airport attacks killed three

Saudi Arabia's General Authority of Civil Aviation said Wednesday that attacks on Abha International Airport and King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh on Tuesday and Wednesday killed three people and injured 36. Yemen's Houthi rebels claimed missile and drone strikes on both airports. The attacks pull the kingdom further into a conflict tied to the wider Iran war, and they threaten a shipping route that serves as an alternative to the Strait of Hormuz.yahoo+2

The aviation authority said the Abha attack killed two female residents, one Moroccan and one Algerian, and injured 28 people. The injured there included two Saudi citizens and residents from Bangladesh and the Philippines. In Riyadh, a Sudanese national was killed and eight people were injured: five Saudis, two Egyptians and a Pakistani. The authority said both attacks caused material damage, but it did not say which attack happened on which day.aa+2

Competing claims over Riyadh

Houthi military spokesman Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree said on X that the group had "targeted King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh with a ballistic missile," causing "a disruption of air traffic". He also claimed strikes on Abha airport, an air base in Khamis Mushait and military sites in Najran and Asir, and offered no evidence. Maj. Gen. Turki al-Malki, spokesman for the Saudi-led coalition, said a ballistic missile was intercepted north of Riyadh. He said the coalition was tracking the launch platform over Sanaa and would destroy it. Flightradar24 showed brief flight disruptions at the Riyadh airport.aljazeera+2

The Houthis also fired missiles early Wednesday at Aden, the seat of Yemen's internationally recognized government. Aden authorities reported no casualties. Yemen's Transport Ministry said one missile landed near the runway minutes before a flight from Cairo was due to land. The Associated Press reported, citing FlightAware, that the flight landed safely at 3:30 a.m.. Aden police called the attack "a direct threat to the safety of civilians, passengers, employees and flight crews".ktvn+1

Warnings and condemnation

The U.S. Mission in Saudi Arabia told Americans to "exercise heightened vigilance," citing Houthi threats against airports and airspace. It warned that the conflict "has the potential to escalate" and advised against travel near the Yemen border. The United Arab Emirates condemned the attacks, calling them "a flagrant violation" of Saudi sovereignty.usembassy+1

A widening ground war

The strikes come as Saudi Arabia and allied Yemeni forces carry out a ground and air offensive to retake Red Sea coastline and areas around the Bab el-Mandeb Strait that the Houthis seized last month. AFP reported that military sources on both sides had not seen major changes on the ground. It also reported that more than 270 fighters were killed in a single day this week. According to the United Nations, almost 1,000 people have been killed since the civil war resumed in July.france24+1

In an analysis, the Institute for the Study of War wrote: "The Houthis believe that they can maximize Saudi economic costs and compel Saudi Arabia to surrender to Houthi demands by striking civilian infrastructure, such as oil facilities and airports".ktvn