Houthis Strike Riyadh Airport Again, and Dozens Are Reported Wounded
King Khalid International Airport was evacuated on Saturday after a blast; a diplomatic source told AFP that the Houthis hit it with a missile at about 3pm local time. A hospital source said dozens were wounded and five were in intensive care. Saudi authorities have not confirmed an attack; flights have been diverted or cancelled, and Western embassies have told their citizens to stay away.
The airport has been attacked repeatedly this week; four people have already been killed there, among them a Saudia pilot. “I saw 401 hit, I saw injured in front of my eyes. Everyone was running,” one passenger told AFP. The Houthis say they are targeting Riyadh for backing Yemen’s government, which on 4 October launched an offensive to retake the Bab al-Mandab — the chokepoint that has become the Gulf’s alternative to a closed Strait of Hormuz. A government military spokesman says only half the area around the strait has been recaptured; the Houthis say they repelled the assault. The UN envoy, Hans Grundberg, has told the Security Council that Yemen has slid back into “full-scale war”.