Saudi Arabia on Monday, October 12 extended the suspension of flights to and from King Khalid International Airport after a new round of Houthi missiles (the Guardian). The Saudi-led coalition said it intercepted missiles and drones overnight (Bloomberg). On Monday evening the Financial Juice bulletin reported a warning in Riyadh and three explosions heard by a witness; the authorities then said the threat had passed, and the coalition said it had destroyed a ballistic missile launched toward the capital, while the Houthis said they targeted the airport. Toll of Saturday’s attack, October 10: 12 dead and 309 injured according to the Saudi authorities, then 13 dead according to the BBC and BFM. Sunday’s strike killed a Pakistani resident and injured 11, according to the General Authority of Civil Aviation (Saudi Gazette, Al Jazeera). Turkey, Pakistan, Egypt and Saudi Arabia condemned the attacks in a joint statement (Reuters).
The airport is in the capital of the world’s largest oil exporter, and the attacks hit civil aviation and test the kingdom’s defences. Reuters left senior oil company executives off the schedule of the energy event in Riyadh, and the energy minister said, according to Bloomberg, that the kingdom’s supplies are solid.
For those travelling to Saudi Arabia for work or umrah: many flights are suspended or cancelled, so check with the airline before heading to the airport. The price of oil and fuel may be affected globally if the conflict widens.
Riyadh sees targeting airports and civilians as a dangerous escalation with no justification, and vows a “serious” response.
The Houthis say they are responding to the war the coalition is waging against them, and warn aviation against using Saudi airports.
The toll is not uniform across sources (12, then 13), and the Houthi warning about airspace is a claim Saudi Arabia has not confirmed. We are watching three things: when the airport resumes operation, what form the Saudi response takes, and whether the attacks feed into oil prices.
Reuters, Bloomberg, BBC, the Guardian, Associated Press, Al Jazeera, BFM, Saudi Gazette, Financial Juice
Houthis keep striking Riyadh; Saudi Arabia extends airport closure and vows a “serious” response, and Egypt is among states condemning the attacks
The Saudi-led coalition said it destroyed a ballistic missile launched toward Riyadh on Monday evening, and the Houthis said they targeted the airport. The toll of Saturday’s attack ranged between 12 and 13 dead depending on the source, and we have not seen a final independent figure.
Saudi Arabia on Monday, October 12 extended the suspension of flights to and from King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh after a new round of Houthi missiles, according to the Guardian. The Saudi-led military coalition said it intercepted missiles and drones targeting the kingdom overnight, according to Bloomberg, and Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman said, according to the BBC, that the response to the attacks would be “serious”; the Guardian quoted him as saying that “fear has no place in Saudi Arabia’s dictionary”. Reuters reported that Riyadh’s skies looked almost empty and that airlines cancelled their flights to the kingdom.
On Monday evening the Financial Juice bulletin reported that a warning of a possible danger had been issued in Riyadh and that a witness heard three explosions; the authorities then said the threat had passed, and the coalition said it had destroyed a ballistic missile launched toward the capital. The Houthis, an armed Yemeni group backed by Iran, said they targeted Riyadh airport with ballistic missiles; we have not seen new confirmed damage from two sources.
Saturday’s attack on the airport on October 10 had killed, according to the Saudi authorities, 12 people and injured 309; the BBC then reported on Monday that the attacks on the airport and another facility killed 13 people, and France’s BFM wrote the same figure, so the toll is not uniform. The Saudi General Authority of Civil Aviation announced that Sunday’s strike killed a Pakistani resident and injured 11 others, according to Saudi Gazette and Al Jazeera. Saudi Arabia is investigating, according to the Associated Press, why its defence systems failed to prevent the attack, and Al Jazeera asks why Houthi missiles are penetrating Saudi defences.
Reactions followed one after another: Emirati official Anwar Gargash said, according to the Financial Juice bulletin, that there is an urgent need to revive joint Gulf action on security and defence, and the British prime minister said, according to the same bulletin, that his country is ready to consider any new Saudi request for support. Philstar, GMA and Inquirer reported four Filipinos injured in Saturday’s attack, three of them in intensive care. The Financial Times wrote that the attack on the two airports strikes at the heart of the economic vision of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. We found no update in Monday’s coverage on the Egyptian flight attendant whom Al-Ahram Online reported yesterday, Sunday, had died in the attack.
There is an economic link too: Reuters reported that senior oil company executives were left off the schedule of the energy event in Riyadh after the attacks, and the energy minister said, according to Bloomberg, that the kingdom’s ability to supply energy remains solid. Turkey, Pakistan, Egypt and Saudi Arabia condemned the attacks in a joint statement that described them as a “dangerous escalation”, according to Reuters. For the Egyptian reader there is a practical side: large numbers of Egyptians travel to Saudi Arabia for work and umrah, and flights to Riyadh are suspended or cancelled at many airlines, so travellers should check with the airline before heading to the airport. The Houthis said, according to the Financial Juice bulletin citing Iran’s Fars news agency, that Saudi airspace and airports are unsafe except Mecca and Medina, a warning Saudi Arabia has not confirmed. Watching today: the airport’s status and the date flights resume, the form of the Saudi “response”, and the effect on oil prices.