On Sunday, the Coalition to Support Legitimacy in Yemen announced that Terminal 4 at King Khalid International Airport in the Saudi capital of Riyadh was targeted by an unidentified projectile, resulting in a fire. The coalition stated in a press release that the attack on the passenger terminal caused the blaze. It further clarified that competent authorities began dealing with the fire, without providing details regarding the extent of the damage or any casualties.
In a subsequent statement, the coalition declared that air defense systems intercepted and destroyed a cruise-type missile in the vicinity of King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh. The coalition did not clarify whether the intercepted missile was linked to the projectile that targeted the passenger terminal, nor did it specify the party responsible for the attack.
This incident follows an attack on King Khalid International Airport one day prior. On Saturday night into Sunday, the General Authority of Civil Aviation in Saudi Arabia announced that the previous assault resulted in the death of 12 people and injured 309 others. The authority had announced on Saturday the temporary suspension of operational operations at the airport until damage assessments were completed and facility safety was verified, in coordination with competent authorities.
The same airport was subjected to two attacks on Thursday, October 8. One target was the airport’s facilities, while the other targeted a Saudi Arabian Airlines plane. On Friday, the Saudi Civil Aviation Authority stated that the Thursday attacks killed three Saudi citizens and injured nationals and residents of various nationalities, alongside material damages.
Prior to these events, two attacks targeted Abha and King Khalid International airports on October 6 and 7. According to Saudi authorities, these assaults killed three residents from Moroccan, Algerian, and Sudanese nationalities and injured 36 people. Consequently, the number of attacks on King Khalid International Airport since Tuesday has risen to five within a week, according to an Anadolu Agency tally of official Saudi data.
Saudi authorities have not identified the party responsible for the attacks, although the Houthi group announced on Thursday that it targeted King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh with a ballistic missile. These developments occur amidst ongoing military escalation between Saudi Arabia and the Houthi group since July last year, which included strikes on civil aviation facilities and energy infrastructure.
Since March 2015, Saudi Arabia has led a military coalition to support the Yemeni government against the Houthi group, which has controlled the capital Sanaa and several provinces since September 2014.
