Explosions were heard over the Saudi capital early on Sunday as the Saudi-led coalition said its air defences had downed a ballistic missile launched by Yemen's Houthi fighters towards Riyadh, as well as two drones in the capital area, AFP reported.
Source: AFP (via TOB News)
An AFP journalist in the city heard three explosions in the early hours of Sunday, and residents received alert messages warning of a "hostile aerial threat" and urging them to stay in a safe place. The coalition said in a post on X that its air defences had intercepted and destroyed the ballistic missile launched towards Riyadh.
Source: AFP (via TOB News)
The interception came on the very morning Riyadh's King Khalid International Airport resumed flights after a two-week closure following Houthi strikes on the capital. The FlightRadar monitoring site showed a plane taking off from the airport early on Sunday, heading to the Saudi city of Jeddah, AFP reported.
Source: AFP (via The Business Standard)
The airport had announced on X on Saturday that Terminal 1 would be designated for domestic flights and Terminal 2 for international flights operated by national carriers, effective Sunday, 25 October.
Source: AFP (via The Business Standard)
Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree warned that the airport was still "unsafe" and a "military target", warning all international, regional and local airlines — as well as staff and travellers — against using it, and saying the Saudi government would bear the consequences of any operations at the airport. That warning is the Houthis' own statement.
Source: AFP (via The Business Standard)
The Houthis said that, in the space of 24 hours, they had targeted three Saudi airports including Riyadh, energy installations, a pipeline and an air base, and that they had also fired at the southern Yemeni city of Aden, saying they targeted a naval base and a military camp overseen by Saudi forces there. These are the group's own claims and have not been independently confirmed.
Source: AFP (via TOB News)
Separately, the Saudi civil defence agency said it had responded to falling debris in the Mecca and Medina regions on Saturday after intercepting two Houthi missiles. The Houthis denied targeting the two holy cities, calling the Saudi claim a "huge lie".
Source: AFP (via TOB News)
The airport had been shut since an attack earlier this month that killed 13 people and wounded more than 300 — the deadliest attack in the kingdom in more than a decade, AFP said. Saudi Arabia and the government it backs in Yemen have faced a wave of Houthi attacks in recent weeks after a years-long truce broke down in the summer, in fighting that has shifted the focus of the wider US-Iran war.
Source: AFP (via The Business Standard)
Riyadh is a major gateway for Indian and Punjabi workers and travellers in the Gulf. With the Houthis publicly warning against using the airport even as flights resume, travellers should check their own airline's current advisory before heading to the airport.