Riyadh, 25 October. Yemen's Houthis said they attacked King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh a few hours after Saudi Arabia announced that flights had resumed, as well as military bases in Khamis Mushait and Jazan, the movement's military spokesman Yahya Saree said.
According to Saree, the Houthis "conducted three military operations with dozens of ballistic missiles" and the strike on the airport "achieved its target"; besides the airport, the targets were King Khalid Air Base in Khamis Mushait and a naval base in Jazan. The Saudi authorities did not report a new strike on the airport. The Saudi-led coalition said it intercepted 10 ballistic missiles fired at the south of the kingdom, a cruise missile heading for Khamis Mushait, and drones and a missile aimed at Riyadh. Debris from two intercepted missiles injured two people and damaged homes and vehicles, according to Saudi civil defence.
Riyadh airport had been closed since 10 October, when a Houthi strike killed 13 people; the coalition counted 20 attacks on it between 1 and 11 October. A week earlier the airport had reopened to limited domestic flights. The Houthis warned that they regard it as a "military target". Because of the closure, the kingdom's flagship investment forum has been postponed to 2027. In Aden, the temporary capital of Yemen's recognised government, a powerful explosion followed a ballistic missile landing near a military headquarters.
The US embassy in Riyadh and the US mission in the UAE updated travel advisories to reflect "an increase in potential armed attacks" by the Houthis. Earlier in the week Washington ordered non-essential embassy staff and their families to leave Saudi Arabia.
What it means: Saudi Arabia's attempt to bring its capital's airport back into operation met a new strike the same day. The Houthis keep hitting the kingdom's airports and energy sites, and the US has extended its warnings to the UAE.
Who benefits: The Houthis and Iran, which backs them, increase pressure on Riyadh. The Saudi economy, airlines and investors lose; higher risk in the Gulf supports high oil prices.
Background: The truce between the Houthis and Yemen's recognised government, in force since 2022, broke down in the summer; since then the Houthis have attacked Saudi Arabia, which leads the coalition against them. The war between the US and Israel and Iran began in February. The Houthis are an armed movement that in late 2014 overthrew the Saudi-backed government in Sanaa and has controlled northern Yemen since; it is backed by Iran. The Houthis present the current strikes as a response to attacks that, they say, killed 17 people; Riyadh has not acknowledged them.
We have also reported that the coalition said it intercepted 10 Houthi ballistic missiles.
