Three Saudi Arabian citizens were killed and others were injured in two attacks on the main airport in the capital, Riyadh, on Thursday, Saudi authorities said, as the kingdom faces intense fire from the Houthis .
The deaths bring the number of people killed from strikes on King Khalid International Airport this week to four . Two others were killed in an assault on Abha airport in the south-west of the country.
In the latest incidents, one strike targeted the Riyadh airport’s facilities, while the other hit a Saudia Airlines plane, Saudi Arabia’s General Authority of Civil Aviation said on X on Friday. It didn’t provide details on the timing of each attack.
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Saudia said the latter strike killed a captain , named as Hamoud Ali Alkalthami. The airline said no passengers were on board the plane, adding that the company resumed operations on Thursday evening. The aviation authority said that airport operations also resumed.
Several airlines have canceled flights to Riyadh in recent days as the Houthi attacks escalate.
Shortly after the announcement from GACA, a Saudi-led coalition that’s fighting the Houthis in Yemen said it destroyed three of the group’s missile launchers and will respond firmly to further attacks.
The Houthis, an Iran-backed group that controls Yemen’s capital of Sanaa any many other areas, have been striking Saudi Arabia with missiles and drones almost-daily since early September. They have also gained more territory against Saudi-backed forces near the crucial Bab el-Mandeb strait at the southern end of the Red Sea.
Read more: Houthi Strikes, Pipe Closure Mark Crisis for MBS and Saudis
The coalition, made up of Saudi air power and the ground troops representing the internationally-recognized Yemeni government, began an offensive last weekend to regain lost areas. The group says it retook Mokha, a port on the Red Sea, from the Houthis.
The government of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has sought help from allies to counter the Houthis. US President Donald Trump, who agreed a truce with the militants last year after a short bombing campaign, is reluctant to get involved with offensive operations, but is providing intelligence to the Saudis.
France has sent defensive military equipment to the Saudi port of Yanbu, while the UK is providing the kingdom with an air-refueling plane.
Turkey and Pakistan, who agreed a defense pact with Saudi Arabia in August, have signaled they’re willing to send troops or weaponry to the kingdom, though not in an offensive capacity.
The fighting is a severe blow to MBS, as the crown prince is known, and his multitrillion-dollar economic diversification plans. In under three weeks, Riyadh is scheduled to host the Future Investment Initiative, the country’s flagship investment conference. This year’s attendees are meant to include high-profile financial executives such as Larry Fink, the head of BlackRock Inc., and Steve Schwarzman of Blackstone Inc.