Houthi forces warn against use of Saudi airports following Riyadh attack

Yemen’s Houthis have delivered renewed warnings to stay away from all Saudi airports except Mecca and Medina, one day after an alleged Houthi attack on King Khalid International Airport in Saudi Arabia’s capital city of Riyadh.

In a post on X on Sunday, Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree warned all shipping companies, airlines, employees and travellers against using airports in Saudi Arabia.

“The airports and airspace are exposed to targeting and constitute a theatre of operations for our forces, with the exception of Mecca and Medina,” he added, referring to the two holiest cities in Islam.

Saree urged “everyone to take our warnings seriously” and said Saudi Arabia “bore responsibility for failed interceptions” of the attack.

Authorities suspended operations at the airport until 21:00 GMT on Sunday, according to a Notice to Air Missions (Notam) issued by Saudi civil aviation authorities, after the attack killed 12 and injured more than 300 others in the deadliest strike on the kingdom for more than a decade.

The General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA) said in a statement on Sunday that four Saudi citizens, two Bangladeshis, one American, one Egyptian, one Jordanian, one Syrian, one Palestinian and one Sudanese had been killed in the attack late on Saturday.

Kuwait Airways announced the cancellation of two flights scheduled to and from Riyadh on Sunday due to what it describes as a “temporary suspension of operations” from the Saudi authorities.

International reaction

While the Houthis have not claimed responsibility for the strike, the Saudi-led coalition fighting the Houthis in Yemen attributed it to them, calling it a “full-fledged war crime”. 

Several other regional and international nations have condemned the attack, including Iraq, the UAE, Qatar, Germany, France and Britain, as well as European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen and United Nations General Secretary Antonio Guterres.

UK Defence Secretary Wes Streeting called the attack “contemptible” and a “dangerous escalation”, saying it explains “one of the reasons why the UK is providing support to Saudi Arabia in the form of air defences but also air-to-air refuelling” in an interview with Sky News on Sunday.

When asked if the UK’s support for the kingdom could go further, Streeting told the BBC that “potentially” it could. 

The airport has faced repeated targeting from the Yemeni armed group, but this alleged attack would mark the most deadly escalation in their “tit-for-tat” strikes with the neighbouring Gulf state. 

Houthi-affiliated media reported on Friday that Saudi strikes on the airport in the Houthi-controlled capital city of Sanaa killed two people, a day after their attacks against Riyadh airport killed three. 

Saudi Arabia and the Saudi-backed Yemeni government have launched repeated strikes across Yemen, hitting civilian infrastructure, including airports, but this has not prohibited the Yemeni group from being able to launch missiles and drones back at the kingdom.