Spokesman says 20 attacks targeted King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh since start of October
RIYADH — Nineteen people were killed and 364 injured in attacks by Yemen’s Houthi group on Saudi airports, including King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh and Abha International Airport, the Saudi-led coalition said on Thursday.
“Houthi attacks on the Kingdom have intensified since the beginning of October, following an escalation by the Iran-aligned group against Saudi Arabia since July,” spokesman Turki al-Maliki said at a news conference broadcast by the Saudi Alekhbariya News TV.
“King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh had been targeted in 20 Houthi attacks since the beginning of October,” he said. “Seventeen people were killed and 333 others injured in attacks on the airport between Oct. 7 and 11.”
“Two people were also killed and 28 others injured in an attack on Abha International Airport in the southwestern Asir region,” said the spokesman.
Three others were injured in an attack targeting King Abdullah International Airport in the southwestern Jazan region, according to coalition figures.
Five Saudi airports, including Riyadh’s main airport, have come under Houthi attacks since Oct. 5, causing deaths and injuries as well as property damage and disruptions to air traffic, according to official Saudi sources.
‘Cruise missile intercepted, destroyed over Medina region’
The Saudi-led coalition in Yemen has said that it intercepted and destroyed a cruise missile over the Medina region in western Saudi Arabia.
Coalition spokesperson Maj. Gen. Turki al-Maliki announced the interception in a brief statement on X on Thursday.
The statement did not identify who launched the missile or its intended target, and provided no details on possible casualties or damage. It came amid intensified missile and drone attacks by the Houthi militia on Saudi Arabia, including strikes targeting airports and energy facilities.
The coalition accused the Houthis of carrying out a drone attack on the Taibah electricity distribution station in Medina on September 29.
The attack knocked a transformer out of service but did not disrupt the electricity grid, according to al-Maliki. The facility supplies electricity to the Prophet’s Mosque, one of Islam’s holiest sites.
Thursday’s incident came hours after the coalition said early on Thursday that it intercepted and destroyed a drone over Saudi Arabia’s Eastern Province. — Anadolu Agency
