Saudi Arabia on Sunday partially reopened its main airport in Riyadh, even as Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi rebels vowed to continue attacks on the facility,
describing it as a "military target". King Khalid International Airport suspended operations on 10 October following an attack claimed by the Houthis that killed 13 people, the deadliest such incident in Saudi Arabia in more than a decade. Saudi authorities said two terminals resumed operations on Sunday. Terminal 1 was designated for domestic flights, while Terminal 2 was assigned to international services operated by national carriers. However, flight-tracking data from Flightradar24 showed little air traffic at the airport on Sunday, despite the announcement. Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree warned that the airport would "never be safe" and urged airlines, airport staff and travellers not to use it. The group said it had also targeted sites in Khamis Mushait and Jazan, although it was not immediately clear whether those attacks were among the strikes Saudi Arabia said it had intercepted.
Saudi Arabia reported intercepting another wave of missiles and drones on Sunday as fighting with the Houthis continued.
The Saudi-led coalition said two drones and a ballistic missile had been launched towards Riyadh, while a cruise missile was directed at the southern city of Khamis Mushait. It later reported intercepting 10 ballistic missiles fired towards southern Saudi Arabia.
Saudi civil defence officials said shrapnel from the interception of two ballistic missiles over Khamis Mushait and Ahad Rafidah injured two people and damaged residential buildings and vehicles.
Authorities also issued emergency alerts for Riyadh and the cities of Abha, Khamis Mushait, Jazan and Najran on Sunday, before announcing minutes later that the danger had passed.
The Houthis said on Saturday that they had attacked the airport and Saudi oil facilities. Saudi authorities did not directly comment on those claims.
The Saudi-led coalition said earlier this month that the Houthis had carried out 20 attacks on the airport between 1 and 11 October.
The renewed fighting has made Saudi Arabia, a US ally, an increasingly important pressure point in the wider US-Israeli offensive against Iran.
Saudi Arabia has intensified its strikes against the Houthis since the group seized strategic territory along Yemen’s Red Sea coast last month, advancing towards the Bab el-Mandeb Strait. The narrow waterway is a major global shipping route and a strategic chokepoint for international trade and energy supplies. It lies on the opposite side of the Arabian Peninsula from the Strait of Hormuz.
The escalation has also shattered a UN-brokered truce that had largely held since 2022. Saudi Arabia intervened in Yemen’s civil war in 2015, leading a coalition in support of the internationally recognised government after the Houthis seized the capital, Sanaa, the previous year.
