Saudi Arabia: three people killed, including a pilot, in strikes against Riyadh airport claimed by the Houthis

Saudi Arabia's civil aviation authority announced Friday the deaths of three Saudis in Thursday's strikes on Riyadh airport, which were claimed by Yemen's pro-Iranian Houthi fighters.

“The attacks resulted in the death of three Saudi citizens,” said this organization, specifying that the strikes had targeted airport installations as well as a plane of the national airline Saudia. A pilot from the same company was among the three Saudis killed.

“It is with deep sadness that Saudia announces the death of Captain Hamoud Ali Alkalthami,” the Saudi national airline said in a statement. Saudi Arabia “excludes” an immediate truce with the Houthis, a regional source told AFP on Friday.

Riyadh rules out any “ceasefire” as long as the Yemeni government forces, which it supports, have not recovered the territories recently seized by the Houthis. Saudi Arabia will not give in to the “military blackmail” of the Houthis, added this source on condition of anonymity.