Saudi Arabia says three killed at airport as Yemen war expands

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia said on Friday (Oct 9) that three people including a pilot were killed in attacks on Riyadh's international airport the day before, after Yemen's Houthis claimed a series of attacks targeting the facility.

The conflict between the Houthis and Yemen's Saudi-backed government has spilt over into the kingdom, with the Iran-backed fighters staging repeated attacks on Saudi targets since launching a lightning offensive just across the border.

In addition to seizing large swathes of territory along the Red Sea coast in Yemen, the Houthis have used missiles and drones to attack Saudi transport hubs, oil facilities and other civilian targets in the world's largest crude exporter.

The Saudi civil aviation authority said two attacks on Thursday on the Saudi capital's airport and a Saudia Airlines plane there "resulted in the martyrdom of three citizens".

The national flag carrier confirmed the death of the aircraft's captain, expressing "profound sadness".

The Riyadh attacks forced diplomats stationed there to shelter in place and international schools to take safety measures, as explosions echoed across the city on Thursday.

Numerous flights at Riyadh's King Khalid International Airport were delayed or cancelled, and the kingdom's civil defence agency said missile "interception debris" had damaged a kindergarten and a medical complex in the city.

Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree on Friday appeared to suggest that planes would need to seek the group's permission to fly in or out of the transit hub.

"Humanitarian flights to and from Riyadh Airport will be permitted for all flights authorised" by a Houthi coordinating body in Sanaa, he wrote on X.

"ADVANCES ARE LIMITED"

Saudi Arabia and the Yemeni government forces it supports have struggled to reverse the Houthis' advance, despite a counter-offensive aimed at recapturing territory including the area around the Bab el-Mandeb strait, which is crucial to global shipping.

While a Saudi diplomat said on Friday that Riyadh-backed forces had successfully retaken the area, a military source on the ground gave a conflicting account, saying fighting was ongoing.

The Yemeni military source told AFP that government forces had launched a "major operation" in the strait region, supported by Saudi air power, but added that "fighting is fierce and advances are limited".

Houthi-affiliated media, meanwhile, said an attack by government forces south of the strait had been repelled.

A regional source told AFP on Friday that Riyadh would not bow to the Houthis' "military blackmail" and would not agree to a truce until the Yemeni government regained all the territory it lost in recent weeks.

The Houthis' Al-Massirah TV channel reported fresh Saudi strikes on Sanaa, shortly after a large demonstration in support of the group in the city centre.

The raids targeted military positions far from residential neighbourhoods, according to an AFP correspondent.

Houthi media had also announced strikes during the night targeting two factories in the capital, as well as in Saada governorate, the group's stronghold.

The Houthis, whose heartlands are among the Zaidi Shia Muslims in the northwest, had already controlled the capital Sanaa and most of Yemen's major population centres since the start of the war in 2014.

Riyadh's military coalition intervened to support the government the following year.

EVACUATION WARNING

After declaring the start of their counter-offensive against the Houthis, Yemen's government claimed to have pushed the fighters out of strategic areas on the Red Sea coast and the port city of Mocha.

But the Houthis insist they are holding their territory, and military sources from both sides contacted by AFP have not reported any major changes on the ground.

The Houthis have also warned workers to evacuate Saudi Arabia's oil facilities, having days before hit a major refinery south of the capital.

Admissions by Saudi authorities of civilian targets being hit are relatively rare. There have been few statements on Houthi attacks in recent weeks.

Claims by the warring parties have been impossible to independently verify, with the situation moving fast and access for journalists difficult.

In Yemen, one of the world's poorest countries, ordinary civilians are paying the price for the renewed fighting, with more than 200,000 people displaced since July, according to UN data.