Flames, smoke seen near Riyadh airport; Houthis claim attacks on Saudi capital

Yemen’s Houthis said theyattacked “sensitive” sites in the Saudi capital Riyadh on Saturday withmissiles and drones, hours after flames and a large plume of smoke were seennear the city’s main airport. Saudi Arabia had sent alertsovernight warning of potential danger around Riyadh, amid an escalation inattacks by the Houthis in the kingdom. Reuters video and photographsshowed a huge pillar of black smoke rising in the area, with the airporthighway, main terminal building and other facilities in the foreground. At onepoint in the video, flames were visible rising from behind what appeared to befuel tanks. While the Iranian-backedHouthis have launched repeated attacks against Saudi Arabia since July,Saturday’s claim appeared to be their first reported strike on Riyadh since thecurrent escalation began.

The Houthis did not specifywhat they had targeted in Riyadh, but said they had also attacked an Aramcofacility in the Red Sea city of Yanbu, a key Saudi oil export hub. The Saudi-led military ⁠ coalition fighting theHouthis said its air defences had destroyed a missile fired by the Yemeni grouptoward Riyadh early on Saturday. In a statement, the coalitionalso said it had foiled attacks targeting civilians in the Saudi cities of Bishand Farasan in the southwest and Taif in the west, as well as Yanbu on the RedSea coast. It did not say whether there was any damage. Saudi civil defence sent thealerts by phone overnight for potential danger of aerial attacks in Riyadh andthe city of Al-Kharj east of the capital, before issuing an all-clear onSaturday morning.

A Reuters journalist in Riyadh’s Olaya area heard boomsbefore the all-clear was sent. Although some alerts had beenissued in Riyadh this year after the start of the US-Iran war, these were thefirst since the escalation with the Houthis began in July. The fighting between theHouthis and Saudi Arabia has developed as a new theatre of conflict in thewider war that began with US and Israeli strikes against Iran at the end ofFebruary. US President Donald Trump has rebuffed Saudi requests for direct USmilitary intervention against the Houthis. A US State Department securityalert issued on Saturday for Americans in the Middle East cited Houthi attacks.