Houthi rebels claim new strikes on Saudi airports and energy facilities

Fighting between Yemen's Houthis group and the Saudi-led coalition showed no sign of easing on Sunday, as fresh attacks hit major airports in Saudi Arabia, while the Houthi group claimed new missile and drone operations against Saudi airports and energy facilities and the coalition vowed a firm response.

Saudi Arabia's General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA) said Sunday that a new attack on King Khalid International Airport in the Saudi capital Riyadh killed a Pakistani resident, and injured 11 others.

Earlier in the day, the Saudi-led coalition said an unknown projectile had struck a passenger terminal at the airport, and a fire caused by the attack was being handled at the site.

The airport had already come under two attacks on October 8, killing three Saudi citizens and injuring several others. It was struck again on Saturday afternoon, when the attack killed 12 people and injured 309 others, prompting GACA to temporarily suspend operations pending damage assessments and safety checks.

In a later statement, GACA said King Fahd International Airport near Dammam in the Eastern Province was attacked on Sunday evening, with damage assessments and safety inspections of the airport facilities underway.

The Houthi group claimed on Sunday that it had carried out four missile and drone operations against airports and energy facilities across Saudi Arabia over the past 24 hours.

Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Sarea said the operations targeted King Khalid International Airport, King Fahd International Airport, and two facilities operated by Saudi energy giant Aramco.

In a separate statement, Sarea warned that Saudi airports and airspace, except for those in the Islamic holy cities of Mecca and Medina, remained "exposed to targeting" and constituted an area of operations for the group's forces.

Saudi response

Meanwhile, Saudi airstrikes continued across Houthi-held areas in Yemen, as the Saudi-led coalition vowed to respond firmly to the Houthi strikes.

Also on Sunday, Sarea said that Saudi warplanes had carried out 124 strikes over the previous 24 hours targeting the capital Sanaa and the provinces of Taiz, Marib, Al-Jawf, Hajjah, Hodeidah and Saada.

Houthi-run al-Masirah TV also reported earlier on Sunday that a Saudi airstrike hit Sanaa International Airport in Yemen's Houthi-held capital, with no immediate information on casualties or damage.

A Yemeni military official said that Saudi warplanes had launched intensive strikes on Houthi-controlled areas in the southwestern province of Taiz, where fighting between government forces and the group had intensified.

The escalating conflict has drawn growing international concern.

"I am deeply shocked by and strongly condemn Saturday's lethal attack by the Houthis on King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh," said UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, adding that attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure violate international law and "must cease immediately."

The United Arab Emirates, Sudan, Egypt, Türkiye, Israel, Iraq, Syria, Palestine, Bahrain, Pakistan, Russia, and the Arab League also condemned the attack.

Amid the intensified fighting, Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi on Sunday voiced his country's readiness to provide any kind of assistance to help initiate dialogue between Saudi Arabia and Yemen and prepare the ground for a political solution to the conflict.

He made the remarks in a phone call with his Saudi counterpart Prince Faisal bin Farhan bin Abdullah Al Saud, during which the two sides discussed the ongoing developments in the West Asia region, according to the official news agency IRNA.

Araghchi expressed grave concern over the escalation of tensions, saying insistence on military approaches and turning a blind eye to political solutions would only further complicate the status quo.

He stressed that there is no military solution to the crises in West Asia.

Yemen has been mired in conflict since late 2014, when the Houthis seized the capital Sanaa and much of the country's north. A Saudi-led coalition intervened in 2015 in support of the internationally recognised Yemeni government, now based in the southern port city of Aden.

The renewed fighting marked a major escalation after a UN-brokered truce in 2022 largely halted major hostilities.