The Saudi Civil Aviation Authority announced in a statement on the afternoon of the 7th (local time) that King Khalid International Airport and Abha International Airport in the capital Riyadh were attacked on the 6th and 7th respectively, resulting in a total of 3 deaths and 36 injuries.
According to the Aviation Administration, two people, a Moroccan woman and an Algerian woman, were killed in this attack at Abha International Airport.
Additionally, 28 people, including Saudi nationals and residents of Bangladesh and the Philippines, were injured. He added that there were not only minor injuries but also serious injuries.
One Sudanese resident died at King Khalid International Airport. Additionally, eight people were injured, including five Saudi nationals, two Egyptian nationals, and one Pakistani national. He also added that the severity of injuries ranges from light to serious.
All injured were taken to hospital for treatment, and the two attacks also caused some property damage, the aviation authority said.
The Aviation Administration said it is cooperating with relevant authorities to assess the extent of damage and ensure the safety of facilities, while taking necessary measures to ensure passenger safety and maintain the security and safety of air operations.
However, the Aviation Administration did not mention who carried out this attack or what kind of attack, such as a missile or drone, caused the damage.
Earlier, Houthi spokesman Brigadier General Yahya Sari announced on social media that the Houthis had launched ballistic missiles and drones toward Riyadh's King Khalid International Airport, the Associated Press and AFP reported.
In relation to this, Major General Turki al-Maliki of the Saudi-led coalition fighting the Houthis said that he had intercepted a ballistic missile in the skies north of Riyadh.
According to flight tracking site FlightTrader24, flight operations around King Khalid Airport were disrupted for a while on this day.
When the Yemeni government forces and the Saudi-led coalition declared Operation Dawn of Yemen on the 4th to recapture territory controlled by the Houthis and launched a large-scale offensive, the Houthis later revealed that they attacked airports and oil refineries on the Saudi mainland one after another with ballistic missiles and drones.
On the 5th, they said they attacked Riyadh's King Khalid International Airport, the Aramco oil refinery in the western coastal city of Rabigh, the southwestern Abha Airport and the nearby Hamis Mushait Air Base, and military facilities in the Asir, Najran, and Jazan regions. They also claimed that they attacked other Saudi airports the next day.
In response, the Saudi government announced on the 6th that attacks on airports in Najiran and Jazan injured three people and caused material damage, and that it intercepted and destroyed a ballistic missile launched by the Houthis from Hamis Mushait.
AP reported that a new steel fence has been installed around Aramco's fuel tanks and other facilities near Riyadh Airport.
The American think tank Institute for War Studies (ISW) analyzed that "the Houthis believe that by attacking civilian infrastructure such as oil facilities and airports, they can maximize the economic cost to Saudi Arabia and pressure Saudi Arabia to accept the Houthis' demands."
Yemeni government forces and the allied forces have been conducting a large-scale ground and air offensive since the 4th to recapture the territory that the Houthis controlled in the Red Sea coast and Bab el-Mandeb Strait area a month ago.
Yemeni military officials announced on the 5th that they had recaptured several key areas around the strait. However, it is reported that fighting is still continuing around major bases such as Dubab and Moka.
Additionally, the Houthis are known to be continuing their offensive against Taiz, Yemen's third-largest city, and attacked the international airport in Aden, the temporary capital of the Yemeni government, using ballistic missiles and drones.
As fighting intensifies, the number of refugees in Yemen is rapidly increasing.
The United Nations' International Organization for Migration (IOM) announced today that the number of internally displaced people in Yemen increased from 76,000 in the middle of last month to 201,217 in just a few weeks.
IOM Director-General Amy Pope said, “People are fleeing for their lives but have no safe place to go,” and called for additional funding as demand for food and shelter increases.
