Houthis fire missiles at Riyadh airport in latest attack on Saudi capital

Houthi forces fired missiles at Riyadh's airport on Friday, and flames and smoke were seen near the Saudi capital, according to a report carried by the Honolulu Star-Advertiser. The strike is the latest Houthi attack on Saudi infrastructure.

The initial report did not give the number of missiles fired, whether any were intercepted, the extent of damage, any casualties, or whether flights were disrupted. No official Saudi statement was included in the material available at the time of writing.

Riyadh's main airport is King Khalid International Airport. The Houthis, who have controlled the Yemeni capital Sanaa since 2014, have struck Saudi territory repeatedly since a Saudi-led coalition intervened in Yemen in March 2015. In November 2017 they fired a ballistic missile toward the same airport, which Saudi air defences said they intercepted. In September 2019, the Abqaiq and Khurais oil facilities were hit in an attack the Houthis claimed, while Washington and Riyadh pointed to Iran.

A UN-brokered truce took effect in Yemen in April 2022 and expired in October 2022 without a formal renewal, but large-scale cross-border attacks on Saudi Arabia largely did not resume. Direct Saudi-Houthi contacts continued afterwards, including a Saudi delegation's visit to Sanaa in April 2023. Friday's attack on the Saudi capital tests that de facto calm.

For Qatar and the wider Gulf, the strike raises fresh concern about security around a fellow Gulf Cooperation Council state's civilian aviation infrastructure. Doha has repeatedly condemned earlier attacks on Saudi territory and has backed a political settlement in Yemen. No Qatari statement on Friday's strike was available at the time of writing.