Projectile hits Riyadh airport terminal a day after Houthi strike killed 13

A projectile hit a passenger terminal at King Khalid international airport in Riyadh on Sunday, killing one person and injuring 11, according to Saudi civil aviation authorities. The strike came a day after a Houthi missile attack on the same facility killed 13 people and injured more than 300. Air defences also intercepted a cruise missile in the vicinity of the airport.hindustantimes.com+1

The Sunday strike was the latest of several attacks on the airport in the past week, and it escalated a conflict that threatens to draw more countries into the Yemen war and widen the regional fallout of the US-Iran war, which has already spread to Lebanon and Iraq. The airport has been struck four times in the past five days and has been closed since Saturday's attack.

Second strike in two days

An unidentified projectile struck terminal 4, starting a fire, Saudi civil aviation authorities said. Saudi authorities also confirmed that King Fahd international airport in the eastern city of Dammam had been attacked on Sunday evening, saying the assessment of damage and verification of the safety of airport facilities were still under way. The Houthis claimed at least four operations targeting King Khalid airport since Saturday.theguardian.com

Saudi authorities extended the closure of the airport and said schools would be moved online until Thursday. Flights were diverted elsewhere, the Flightradar24 tracker said. Countries including the US, Britain, Germany, Australia and Canada warned citizens to avoid the airport. In a post on X, the British embassy in Saudi Arabia advised against all but essential travel to Jeddah and Dammam and to avoid almost all airports.

The Saturday attack killed 13 people: four Saudi citizens, two Bangladeshi nationals, a Palestinian, a US citizen, an Egyptian, a Jordanian, a Syrian and a Sudanese. More than 300 people were wounded, some critically, with several hospitals treating 309 injured people, Saudi authorities said. The Indian embassy said one of its citizens died on Sunday after being wounded in the Saturday attack.

Saturday's dead and wounded

The dead included an Egyptian flight attendant, Azza Ramzy, 28, who worked for the Saudi airline Flynas, according to Egyptian state-run TV, and a Syrian widowed mother of four who had been living in Saudi Arabia for five years. The US citizen has not been publicly identified. The Saturday strike was the deadliest on Saudi soil in more than a decade and the deadliest attack on a Gulf country since the war with Iran started in March.

The Iran-allied Houthis claimed the Saturday attack and warned airlines, passengers and staff to stay away from Saudi airports, saying the worst was yet to come if Saudi military action in Yemen continued. Houthi military spokesman Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree said the attacks were in response to brutal Saudi aggression. Maj Gen Turki al-Maliki, spokesperson for the Saudi-led coalition, said the coalition would respond firmly to the attack.

Houthi warnings and coalition response

The Houthis also claimed Saudi airstrikes on Sana'a on Sunday, saying a home was hit and a child killed and six others injured. The Houthi-run health ministry said coalition airstrikes over five weeks had killed 91 Yemenis, 60% of them women and children. Saudi-backed government forces have been trying to push the Houthis back from areas they conquered, but have not loosened their grip near the Bab al-Mandab strait.

The US has been assisting with intelligence cooperation and targeting, with about 200 US military advisers stationed in Saudi Arabia. Donald Trump said he was weighing whether to join the Saudi military campaign in Yemen, telling reporters: "We're going to look into it." Direct US involvement could lead the Houthis to resume targeting ships through the Bab al-Mandab strait, through which about 10% of global maritime goods transit.

US role and regional stakes

Saudi Arabia is already carrying out airstrikes against the Houthis in Yemen. Ahmed Nagi, the International Crisis Group's senior analyst for Yemen, said attacks on critical Saudi infrastructure could make the Saudis more determined to continue the campaign rather than push Riyadh to step back. Late Sunday, Saudi Arabia and Iran said their foreign ministers had spoken by phone, with Iran's foreign minister saying Tehran was ready to help start dialogue.cbsnews.com