Houthis claim attack on Riyadh airport as airlines suspend flights to Saudi capital

Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis say they have struck Saudi Arabia’s Riyadh ⁠airport with a ballistic missile, badly damaging a plane and leading some airlines to suspend flights to the capital.

The group provided no evidence, and Saudi Arabia did not immediately comment on the claim.

However, three people briefed on the matter told Reuters that shrapnel from ​an interception or another projectile left a Saudia Airlines commercial plane heavily damaged after catching fire while parked at a terminal on Thursday.

They said no passengers were believed to have been on the plane at the ⁠time but they could not rule out any injuries.

Witnesses heard explosions in Riyadh, including a large blast at the King Khalid international airport. One witness told the Associated Press that fire and ambulance crews were deployed. A thick black column of smoke and flames were shown rising from the airport in a video verified by Reuters.

The witness, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that outgoing flights were halted, and that passengers were instructed to evacuate the airport.

Lufthansa and Air India confirmed they were ⁠suspending flights to Riyadh. According to data compiled by aviation analytics company Cirium, almost half of departures from the airport had been cancelled by 1500 GMT on Thursday, with 31 more cancellations expected for Friday in all Saudi airports.

It comes after Saudi authorities said on Wednesday that three people had been killed this week in strikes on Riyadh airport and Abha airport, in the country’s southwest.

The Houthis escalated their campaign of strikes against Saudi Arabia on Thursday, attempting to shut down the kingdom’s airspace and warning workers to stay away from ⁠energy plants, which would be targeted.

Separately, Saudi officials said debris from an intercepted missile had hit a kindergarten and medical complex in Riyadh.

The Houthis say they are targeting the kingdom over its support for government forces in ​Yemen’s reignited civil war.

Saudi Arabia says it is backing an offensive by Yemen’s UN-recognised government to ‌take back territory from the Houthis.

The Houthis have made a lightning advance across Yemen’s coastal plain over the last month, appearing to gain ground in the country’s south-west on Wednesday as the group approached the city of Taiz.

Independent observers said earlier this week there was danger the group was on course to capture Taiz, with some signs that forces linked to the Saudi Arabian-backed government were pulling back to secure the major port city of Aden.

Riyadh is due to host a major meeting of energy policymakers, the WPC Energy Congress, this week.