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Saudi Airport Terminal Struck Again 10/12 06:27
CAIRO (AP) -- A projectile struck a passenger terminal at the international
airport in Riyadh on Sunday, a day after a missile hit the same terminal and
killed 12 people, the Saudi-led coalition fighting Iran-backed Houthi rebels in
Yemen said. The Houthis claimed responsibility for those attacks and others.
Saudi authorities said one person, described as a Pakistani national, was
killed, and 11 were injured in the latest attack on the domestic terminal
complex at King Khalid International Airport.
The airport -- struck four times in the past five days -- has been closed
since Saturday's missile attack, which was the deadliest in a Gulf Arab nation
since the Iran war began. Over 300 other people were wounded, some critically.
The sharp escalation in the war's new front threatens to draw in greater
U.S. military involvement. President Donald Trump has said he is weighing
joining the fight against the Houthis. There was no White House comment Sunday.
India's embassy in Saudi Arabia said one of its citizens died Sunday of
injuries sustained in Saturday's attack, which would bring the toll to 13.
Saudi authorities later said King Fahd International Airport in Dammam also was
attacked, with few details. The city is on the Persian Gulf near Bahrain and
Qatar.
The latest strike in Riyadh came shortly after the Houthis said the airport
in the rebel-held Yemeni capital of Sanaa had been struck again, and blamed the
Saudis. On Sunday night the Houthi-run Al-Masirah TV channel reported further
strikes on Sanaa, blaming Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia has not commented on the
strikes.
At stake, again, in this escalation are global supplies and prices of oil as
well as commercial shipping through a crucial alternative waterway to the
Iran-threatened Strait of Hormuz -- along with civilians and aviation
throughout the region.
Trump said he planned to speak to Saudi crown prince
There was no sign Sunday that Trump had followed up on plans to speak with
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who has been seeking assistance against
the war-hardened rebel group that is currently Iran's most dynamic proxy.
A U.S. intervention could prompt the Houthis to halt shipping through the
Bab el-Mandeb Strait at the southern end of the Red Sea off Yemen, further
restricting the flow of oil out of the Persian Gulf. The rebels seized key
areas along the strait last month. The Saudi-led coalition, backing forces with
Yemen's internationally recognized government, has been trying to seize them
back.
The rebels' strikes against Saudi airports, oil infrastructure and military
facilities highlight a problem. The kingdom is running low on missile
interceptors and has asked France, Britain, Pakistan and Egypt to deploy air
defense support to the region, regional officials told The Associated Press
last month, with one noting that the U.S. has seen its own stock dwindle during
the Iran war.
Some airlines have suspended flights serving Saudi airports, and some
embassies have cautioned citizens about the risks of using them, after multiple
Houthi warnings about the rebels' use of Saudi airspace.
Sunday's attack occurred as the Saudis hosted a major international energy
conference in Riyadh, with other high-profile events including an investment
gathering on the horizon. Saudi Arabia under Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman
has sought to open more to the world as a business and tourism destination, but
the Houthi attacks threaten those efforts.
"There is no way that somebody will break our back. We are like a phoenix,
we come out of the ashes all the time," the Saudi energy minister, Prince
Abdulaziz bin Salman Al Saud, told the conference.
He added that the kingdom is also working on pipelines in addition to the
East-West one that was attacked and closed for days last month, with no details.
The toll rises on both sides
Earlier on Sunday, the Houthi-run health ministry said a child was killed
and six people wounded in a suspected Saudi airstrike on a house in Sanaa. The
ministry also said 91 Yemenis have been killed by the Saudi-led coalition in
five weeks, 60% of them women and children.
There was no immediate comment from Saudi authorities on the claims, as
fighting in Yemen surges after a major military offensive was launched against
the Houthis a week ago.
Inside Saudi Arabia, identities emerged for some of those killed in
Saturday's attack in Riyadh, including an Egyptian flight attendant and a
Syrian widow living in the kingdom.
The government has previously said the dead also include four Saudi
citizens, as well as two Bangladeshi nationals, one Palestinian, one American,
one Jordanian and one Sudanese national.
Early Monday, Saudi Arabia released videos of the moment of the strike
captured by security cameras. They show people, many dressed in the white robes
of Mecca-bound pilgrims, standing in line in a busy hall, while others scroll
phones in a nearby seating area before a fireball erupts, following by people
throwing themselves to the floor and running for safety.
An expert says the Houthis' tactics could backfire
The Houthis until recently had been largely on the Iran war's sidelines.
They have developed their military capabilities in recent years to become one
of Tehran's most powerful allies. Now they're pressuring its regional rival and
a key U.S. ally.
Late Sunday, Saudi Arabia and Iran said their foreign ministers had spoken
by phone. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said he warned against
insisting on a military approach and ignoring a political solution, and said
Tehran was ready to help start a dialogue between the Saudis and the Houthis.
The Saudis and Houthis began fighting in 2015, when the kingdom entered
Yemen's civil war on behalf of the government. Relative calm after a 2022
ceasefire ended in July when the Houthis resumed attacks, saying the Saudis
fired on the Sanaa airport as a plane from Iran was trying to land.
The attack revived anger over the Saudi-led blockade that has largely
isolated Houthi-run areas. The rebels declared a blockade on Saudi Arabia.
Now the Saudi-led coalition is providing air support for Yemeni government
forces attempting to reverse Houthi territorial gains.
But the rebels' pressure tactics could backfire, said Ahmed Nagi, the
International Crisis Group's senior analyst for Yemen: "Rather than pushing
Riyadh to step back, attacks on critical Saudi infrastructure could make the
Saudis more determined to continue the campaign."
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