Saudi Arabia faces more drone, missile attacks after Houthi’s fatal airport strikes

Saudi Arabia said it was dealing with new drone and cruise missile attacks on Monday, posing fresh security threats to the kingdom following the weekend’s deadly strikes on Riyadh airport.

“We have detected and are monitoring a threat involving drones and cruise missiles against the kingdom and the threat is being dealt with,” the state-run Saudi Press Agency reported.

It cited Defence Ministry spokesman Turki al-Maliki on behalf of a Saudi-led coalition fighting the Iran-backed Houthis.

The coalition said earlier it had intercepted missiles and drones aimed at the kingdom overnight, including areas that are home to some of Saudi Arabia’s key oil and gas facilities.

Saudi authorities on Monday extended a suspension of operations at the King Khalid International Airport in the capital, Riyadh, where two separate attacks over the weekend killed at least 14 people and wounded more than 300, many critically.

King Fahd International Airport in Dammam was targeted separately.

Meanwhile, air strikes on two districts in the Yemeni capital of Sanaa killed one person and wounded 12 others, according to the Houthis.

Their media centre blamed Saudi Arabia for the strikes.

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Houthi attack on Saudi airport kills 12, injures hundreds

The weekend’s events mark the deadliest strikes for Saudi Arabia since the Iran war began and come a week after Saudi-led forces in Yemen launched a campaign to retake areas held by Houthi militia, including the Bab el-Mandeb strait and “eliminate” the group.

As the violence stretched into Monday, the coalition vowed a “decisive” response.

Against that backdrop, Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman, one of the most senior Saudi officials to speak publicly in the wake of the strikes, sought to project resilience, telling oil industry executives that the kingdom remained committed to providing energy security.

“There is no way that somebody will break our back. We are like a phoenix. We come out of the ashes all the time and every time,” Prince Abdulaziz said at an energy event on Sunday.

At the World Petroleum Congress (WPC) on Monday, he called for a serious response to events of recent weeks, while noting the country should remain focused on economic diversification and investment.

The WPC gathering has been disrupted by the hostilities, with some executives who had been scheduled to attend, including the chief executives of BP Plc and Shell Plc, withdrawing.

Riyadh has been in conflict with Houthi militants ever since they took control over the Yemeni capital, Sanaa, in 2014 and forced the internationally recognised government backed by Saudi Arabia to resign the following year.

US President Donald Trump said over the weekend he was considering joining in the fight against the Iran-backed militant group.

“The attack last night is very emblematic. A very advanced, sophisticated ballistic missile, very accurate, targeting a commercial airport and now a number of civilian casualties,” former White House Middle East coordinator Brett McGurk told Bloomberg Television.

“It’s an act of terrorism. I think there has to be a response.”

A senior United Arab Emirates official, meanwhile, urged a revival of regional security arrangements.

“It has become evident that we are all targets and that our security is indivisible,” Anwar Gargash, senior adviser to the UAE president, said on X.

Brent crude extended gains to above US$105 a barrel on Monday following the weekend strikes.

Traders weighed resilient Middle East flows against rising regional tensions and a US claim that Russia and Ukraine had agreed to a so-called energy ceasefire.

The Saudi civil aviation authority said one person died and 11 were injured after an unknown projectile hit the main airport in Riyadh on Sunday.

That followed a strike on King Khalid airport on Saturday.

The attacks brought travel at the Riyadh airport to a near-standstill. They also forced the capital’s financial hub to shift to remote work and schools to do remote learning.

The FAA on Sunday issued a warning to all US airlines to exercise caution flying to or over parts of Saudi Arabia “at all altitudes”.

Authorities have indicated the 25th World Petroleum Congress and associated events, scheduled to run until Wednesday, will continue.

Riyadh is also scheduled to host the Future Investment Initiative (FII), its flagship investor gathering, later this month.

The two events draw industry heavyweights and thousands of delegates.

“Comprehensive security measures will be in place at Riyadh’s airports, our conference venues and official hotels, with coordinated arrangements for participants’ transportation and movements,” the FII’s Chief Executive Officer, Maha Al Saud, said in a statement.