Three Saudi nationals died in Houthi attacks on Riyadh's international airport on Thursday, according to the General Authority of Civil Aviation. The attacks also wounded several Saudi citizens and residents of other nationalities. One of the dead was a pilot for state carrier Saudia. Air traffic resumed normal operations after the incidents.
The Iran-aligned Houthis said they fired two ballistic missiles at the airport. The group also claimed to have targeted an airport in Najran city near the Yemen-Saudi border and Khamis Mushait air base, though Saudi Arabia has not confirmed those strikes.
The latest deaths follow three people killed in separate Houthi attacks on Saudi airports on October 6 and 7. Two were killed and 28 wounded at Abha International Airport. Another person died at King Khalid airport in Riyadh.
The attacks occur as fighting between Yemen's Saudi-backed government forces and the Houthis has escalated sharply in recent weeks. The Houthi military spokesman said the group launched the earlier October strikes in response to what it called "60 air strikes and missile attacks in the past 24 hours" by Saudi Arabia. The group frames its attacks as retaliation for Saudi support of government forces in Yemen's civil war.
Fighting intensified after the Houthis seized control of strategic Red Sea coastal areas, including the port of Mokha on the Bab al-Mandab Strait, a global shipping chokepoint. Yemeni pro-government forces subsequently said they had "secured" the strait.
A Saudi-led coalition formed in 2015 after the Houthis advanced against Yemen's internationally recognised government. A temporary ceasefire took hold in 2022 following years of air strikes and ground combat that killed hundreds of thousands and created one of the world's worst humanitarian crises. That informal truce began to crack in July when the Houthis announced a "maritime embargo" against Saudi Arabia and resumed missile and drone attacks on Saudi airports, oil infrastructure and Red Sea tankers. The group cited years of Saudi blockade and a strike on Sanaa airport as reasons for the renewed campaign.