Riyadh Struck Again as the Houthis Claim Both Attacks
A cruise missile was intercepted near King Khalid International on Sunday while firefighters tackled a blaze caused by a projectile that hit Passenger Hall Four. Dammam’s King Fahd International was attacked too. The Houthis have now claimed both days and warn that every Saudi airport except those at Mecca and Medina is a target.
Saturday’s toll has risen to thirteen, after an Indian man died of his wounds on Sunday; 308 remain injured. The dead include four Saudis, two Bangladeshis and one national each from America, Jordan, Palestine, Syria, Sudan and Egypt. Brigadier General Yahya Saree says the group used “a mix of ballistic and cruise missiles, as well as drones in the past 24 hours” and will keep “escalating operations deep inside Saudi Arabia”, with a warning addressed to the industry: “We renew our warning to all airlines, experts, employees, workers and travellers against using Saudi airports and airspace, as they are vulnerable to attack and have become a theatre of operations for our forces.” Riyadh’s schools move online until Thursday. Britain is edging closer: the defence secretary Wes Streeting said the United Kingdom could “potentially” provide more support for Saudi Arabia, and the foreign secretary said he was “appalled”. Around two hundred American military advisers are already in the kingdom on intelligence and targeting, though the United States has not yet fought the Houthis directly. If it does, the group has previously attacked shipping at Bab al-Mandab, through which roughly a tenth of the world’s seaborne goods pass. Houthi-run television says a Saudi strike on Sanaa killed a child; Saudi Arabia has not confirmed it and it is not independently verified.