AA Photo
Three explosions were heard in Riyadh early on Oct. 25 as the Saudi capital’s international airport prepared to resume flights after a two-week closure caused by Houthi attacks, despite renewed threats from the Yemeni group.
An AFP journalist heard the blasts after residents received alerts warning of a "hostile aerial threat" and urging them to remain in a safe place.
The Saudi-led coalition said its air defenses intercepted a Houthi ballistic missile heading toward Riyadh and destroyed two drones in the capital region. It did not immediately establish whether the interceptions accounted for the three explosions.
King Khalid International Airport said flights would resume on Oct. 25. The Flightradar monitoring service showed an aircraft taking off early in the day.
The airport has faced repeated Houthi strikes, including an attack this month that killed 13 people and wounded more than 300, the kingdom’s deadliest in more than a decade.
Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree said the airport remained "unsafe" and a "military target," warning international, regional and domestic airlines, airport employees and travelers against using it.
"The Saudi regime shall bear the consequences of any operations at the airport," he said.
The Houthis said they had targeted three Saudi airports, including Riyadh’s, along with energy installations, a pipeline and an air base over a 24-hour period.
Saudi Civil Defense said it responded to falling debris in the Mecca and Medina regions on Oct. 24 after two Houthi missiles were intercepted. The Houthis denied targeting Islam’s two holiest cities, calling the Saudi account a "huge lie."
The group also launched attacks on Aden, the interim seat of Yemen’s Saudi-backed government, saying it targeted a naval base and a military camp overseen by Saudi forces.
Saudi Arabia leads a military coalition fighting the Iran-backed Houthis. The latest hostilities erupted after a years-long truce between the group and Yemen’s internationally recognized government collapsed, becoming a growing focus of the wider U.S.-Iran war.
The Houthis seized control of Yemen’s entire Red Sea coast in a rapid offensive last month. The escalation has further destabilized the region and disrupted oil markets.
Repeated attacks have disrupted businesses, airlines and daily life in Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest crude exporter, while complicating its efforts to reshape its international image.
