Weekend strikes carried out by Yemen’s Houthi militants on Saudi Arabia’s King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh killed 14 people and injured hundreds, marking a significant escalation in hostilities on the Arabian Peninsula.
A strike on the King Khalid Airport on Saturday killed 13 people and injured 308 others, making it the deadliest in a series of attacks on the central transport hub that began earlier that week.
It was followed by a second strike on Sunday that killed one person and injured 11. As a result, the suspension of operations at the targeted airport was extended on Monday morning by the Saudi General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA).
The organisation said that this was to allow for the completion of procedures “to ensure the safety and operational readiness of the airport’s facilities”.
Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis claimed the attacks, the deadliest attack on a Gulf Arab country, and on an ally of the United States, since the US and Israel launched a war against Iran in February this year.
In a statement on Sunday, the states of the R4 Group (Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Pakistan and Turkey) condemned the “hostile attacks” as a “blatant violation of international law”. It described them as a “dangerous escalation” in the long-running conflict between Saudi Arabia and the Yemeni militia to its south.
“The Group further reaffirms its solidarity with and support for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, including its full support for all legitimate measures and steps it takes to counter these attacks, deter the sources of their threats, and prevent their recurrence,” it said.
“The Group holds the Houthi militia fully accountable for the results of these attacks and any repercussions that come with it that threaten regional and international peace and security,” it concluded, adding that it “demands” the immediate and unconditional end of the attacks.
Commenting on the incidents, in which an Irish man was reportedly injured, Minister for Foreign Affairs Helen McEntee said that Ireland “stands in solidarity with Saudi Arabia and we extend our sincere condolences to the families of those killed”.
“I am deeply concerned by the escalation of attacks by the Houthis on Saudi Arabia. These have included the deliberate targeting of civilian infrastructure,” Minister McEntee said, describing the humanitarian situation in Yemen at the same time as “deeply worrying”.
The Government’s travel advice for Saudi Arabia remains at its second-highest level of warning, which recommends against all non-essential travel to the region.
The Department of Foreign Affairs observes that the ongoing regional conflicts may escalate “leading to possible attacks on military installations and/or on strategic infrastructure”.
“Debris from intercepted missiles or drones may cause localised damage over urban areas. The most immediate risk remains delay or cancellation of flights,” it says.
Reuters reported that the skies over the Saudi Arabian capital were largely empty on Monday morning following the King Khalid airport attacks, citing data from aviation analytics company Cirium that suggested that approximately 60 percent of all scheduled flights were expected to be cancelled.
Cirium claimed that King Khalid International Airport had cancelled 99.7 percent of all scheduled flights on Sunday, while more than a third of flights scheduled across the country were not expected to operate on Monday.