Five injured in a powerful explosion at King Khalid Airport in Riyadh

A witness and informed sources reported hearing a strong explosion at the airport in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, today, Saturday, while there has been no comment yet from the Saudi government media office or the General Authority of Civil Aviation in the Kingdom.

Witnesses also told Reuters about seeing more than 10 ambulances heading to Riyadh Airport and evacuating passengers.

An informed diplomatic source told AFP that the Ansar Allah group targeted Riyadh airport with a missile.

The source also stated, "The Houthis are attacking civilian targets. Riyadh Airport is a civilian target," adding that the incident occurred around three in the afternoon on Saturday (12:00 GMT). Three witnesses told AFP that evacuations had taken place at the airport around this time.

The warplanes of the Saudi-led military coalition renewed their raids, on Saturday, on the airport of the Yemeni capital, Sana'a, as media outlets affiliated with the Ansar Allah Houthi group reported that four raids targeted the airport, after targeting buildings and other facilities in its vicinity, on Friday.

In its raids on Saturday, the coalition also targeted various areas and facilities, including a communications network in the Al-Safra District in Saada Governorate, adjacent to the border with Saudi Arabia, in addition to areas in the Hajjah Governorates, where it was announced that three people were injured, in addition to targeting Al-Hudaydah and the coastal Taiz in western Yemen.

In southwestern Yemen, the coalition targeted the Bab al-Mandab region with four raids, according to Houthi media, which also indicated that the Amran Governorate located in the Yemeni interior was targeted, as part of the coalition’s continuing attacks on various fronts.

The military spokesman for the Houthis, Yahya Saree, had said, in a press briefing carried by the Houthi media, that the Saudi-led coalition forces launched 77 air strikes and launched missiles on Friday, targeting the capital, Sana’a, and the governorates of Ma’rib, Al-Jawf, Hajjah and Amran, using F-15 aircraft, which he said took off from the Khamis Mushait and Taif bases, while the missiles were launched from Najran, all of which are located in the southwest of the kingdom.

On the other hand, the spokesman for the Saudi-led coalition, Turki al-Maliki, broadcast on Saturday morning, via social media accounts, video clips that he said documented Friday’s battles, and showed, according to his description, a mass escape of Houthi elements from their positions during the progress of the Yemeni armed forces in the operations to clear Bab al-Mandab, with air support from the coalition forces.

He also published scenes that he said showed the coalition air forces targeting Houthi elements while they were trying to hide under the pressure of fire from the Yemeni armed forces in Bab al-Mandab, as he described it.

The Saudi-led military coalition said on Saturday that it had launched a massive military operation against the Ansar Allah group, confirming the destruction of 136 military targets in areas under its control, in light of the escalation of confrontations with Yemeni government forces, and after a series of attacks that targeted Saudi airports and resulted in the killing of six people this week.

The official spokesman for the coalition forces, Turki Al-Maliki, said on the X platform: “We are carrying out a large-scale operation targeting the elements and capabilities of the terrorist Houthi militia.”

Al-Maliki added in a separate post that the coalition forces destroyed 136 military targets in areas under the control of the Ansar Allah group.

On the other hand, the group's Al-Masirah channel reported Saudi missile attacks in Saada Governorate, northwest of Yemen, where the Houthis are based.

The military operation comes at a time when several areas of Yemen have been witnessing violent battles for weeks, the intensity of which escalated with the government forces announcing, last Sunday, the start of a counter-attack to reclaim areas recently controlled by the Ansar Allah group, with the participation of the Saudi-led coalition through intensifying air strikes.

Six people were killed in attacks on Saudi airports

The military escalation in Yemen comes after a series of ballistic missile and drone attacks launched by the Ansar Allah group on Saudi airports and facilities, killing six people and wounding dozens this week.

On Friday, Saudi Arabia announced that three of its citizens were killed in two attacks targeting King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh on Thursday.

Saudi Airlines mourned one of its pilots, Captain Hamoud bin Ali Al-Kalthami, who was killed in the attack, confirming that one of its planes, which was not carrying passengers at the time it was targeted, was damaged.

On Wednesday, the Saudi authorities announced that three more people were killed and 36 injured in attacks targeting Abha and King Khalid airports on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Thursday's attacks forced diplomats in Riyadh to take shelter in safe places, while international schools took security measures, amid the sound of explosions being heard in the city.

Battles escalate around the Bab al-Mandab Strait

The military operation aims to restore the areas controlled by the Houthis during an attack they launched last September, during which they expanded their control to include the entire western coast of Yemen overlooking the Red Sea, including the strategic Bab al-Mandab Strait area.

The German News Agency quoted a government military source as saying that forces from the Giants and Homeland Shield Brigades took control of Al-Ardi camp and observation points belonging to the Coast Guard, in addition to the heights surrounding the Bab al-Mandab Strait and Mayon Island.

The source added that the clashes and combing operations are still continuing, noting that a number of members of the Ansar Allah group have been killed, without specifying a final death toll.

A military source in the government forces told Agence France-Presse on Friday that a large operation was underway to restore the Bab al-Mandab Strait area, indicating that the clashes were violent and that progress on the ground was limited.

During the past 24 hours, the battles resulted in the killing of at least 63 people, including 35 government forces and 28 Houthi fighters, according to what military sources from both sides told AFP on Saturday.

This came at a time when the Saudi ambassador to Yemen, Mohammed Al Jaber, announced via the

But the government military source who spoke to AFP did not confirm that control over the strait had been regained.

For its part, the Ansar Allah group acknowledged that an attack had occurred in the region, but confirmed that it had been confronted.

The group's Saba news agency quoted a military source as saying that its forces targeted concentrations of forces that attempted to advance from Lahj Governorate towards the southern side of Bab al-Mandab, claiming that the attack was thwarted, dozens of deaths and injuries were caused, and a number of military vehicles were destroyed.

Since the start of the government forces' counterattack, the battles have resulted in the deaths of more than 400 people.

The Bab al-Mandab Strait is gaining strategic importance for international navigation and trade, in addition to its increasing importance to Saudi Arabia in exporting oil, in light of the restrictions imposed by Iran on navigation movement through the Strait of Hormuz.

Raids on Sanaa and Saada, and an explosion was heard near Aden Airport

On Friday, media outlets affiliated with the Ansar Allah group reported that two people were killed in Saudi raids targeting the airport of the capital, Sanaa, a day after the group launched bloody attacks on Riyadh airport.

Al Masirah TV quoted an official at Sanaa Airport as saying that the attack resulted in the death of two airport employees and the injury of two others.

The channel said that the raids came shortly after a demonstration in support of the Ansar Allah group in which tens of thousands participated in the center of the capital.

In a separate context, the Civil Defense Authority in Sanaa announced that four fires resulting from Saudi raids had been extinguished, noting that one of the raids led to the destruction of a factory.

The group's media also reported night raids targeting two factories in Sana'a and other sites in Saada Governorate.

On the other hand, the Saudi-led military coalition announced the destruction of three missile launchers, which it said were being used by the Ansar Allah group to threaten regional security, stressing that attacks on civilians and civilian facilities will be met with a firm response.

Saudi Arabia rules out a ceasefire before regaining the lost areas

The source, who requested anonymity, confirmed that the Kingdom "will not submit to blackmail" from the Houthis.

On Friday, Pakistan confirmed the presence of its forces deployed in Saudi Arabia, stressing that their missions are exclusively defensive.

Islamabad and Ankara announced, in a joint statement with Riyadh on Monday, their intention to deploy forces and military capabilities in the Kingdom, according to a defense agreement signed about two months ago.

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan explained on Thursday that his country would not send military forces to launch attacks against the Ansar Allah group inside Yemen.