“A serious emergency situation”: in Saudi Arabia, at least 12 dead and 309 injured at Riyadh airport in an attack blamed on the Houthis

Doctors were called on Saturday to urgently go to hospitals in Riyadh after an attack by pro-Iranian Houthi fighters against the airport in the Saudi capital left at least 12 dead and 309 injured, according to diplomatic and medical sources. Saudi Arabia has not confirmed this new attack, two days after strikes claimed by the Houthis against the same airport killed three Saudis, including a pilot.

A few hours after this deadly strike, the military coalition led by Saudi Arabia in support of the internationally recognized government of Yemen announced in the evening the fall of a projectile near the airport of Dammam, in the east of the kingdom. This airport, along with that of Jeddah (west), is an alternative to Riyadh airport, closed since Saturday. The scale and frequency of attacks targeting Riyadh in recent days are unprecedented since the start of the Middle East war eight months ago, when Iran carried out strikes against the kingdom in response to the Israeli-American strikes at the end of February against Tehran.

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The diplomatic source, informed of the attack, indicated that a “missile” had hit the airport “around 3 p.m.”. “The Houthis are attacking civilian targets,” she added. Many ambulances rushed to the airport. “We were told that we were facing a “serious emergency situation”. The injured are being transferred to different hospitals in the capital,” said a medical source in Riyadh, adding that many of them were in critical condition. The US embassy in Saudi Arabia, which said it was “aware of attacks” targeting the airport, called for people to avoid the area. “Dozens of people were injured at the airport, most of them Saudi nationals. At least five of them, all Saudi, are in intensive care,” another medical source said.

War takes precedence over diplomacy

Authorities did not officially confirm the shooting, and the Houthis did not immediately claim responsibility for strikes on the airport. Saudi Arabia, the world's largest crude exporter, relatively rarely acknowledges that strikes have hit civilian targets. In recent weeks, Saudi officials have made few statements about the consequences of the Houthi attacks. According to Kuwait Airways, Riyadh airport was closed, leading to the cancellation of two flights connecting it to Kuwait City. With the attacks earlier this week, the airport had already experienced air traffic disruptions this week.

Germany, Canada and Spain on Saturday recommended their nationals not to travel through this airport. France had advised its nationals against traveling to the Saudi capital by air on Friday, “unless there is an imperative reason”. These latest attacks come as Saudi Arabia provides military support to Yemeni government forces fighting the Houthis in Yemen where they are trying to retake territories they have seized since September, including the coastline on the Red Sea, following a lightning offensive. Both sides appear determined to continue fighting rather than seek a diplomatic solution.

Yemeni forces advance against the Houthis

Military sources from the government camp in Yemen indicated on Saturday that Yemeni forces had advanced against the Houthis in the area of the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, but without managing to secure this strategic sea route. According to these sources and a Houthi official, the anti-government fighters, who took control of the strait during their lightning offensive in early September, still hold the island of Mayyoun, at the heart of the maritime passage. “Our forces maintain control of Bab el-Mandeb, Mayyoun Island and other areas” of the country's western coast, said Hizam al-Asad, a member of the Houthis' political bureau.

The Bab el-Mandeb Strait, connecting Europe to Asia via the Suez Canal, has become crucial to circumvent Tehran's blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, on the other side of the Arabian Peninsula. A military source from the government camp reported on Friday a “vast operation” underway on Friday to regain control of this sea route. The warring parties' claims are impossible to independently verify, with the situation evolving rapidly and access for journalists difficult.