Three Saudi nationals were killed in two separate Houthi attacks on Riyadh’s international airport, officials said early Monday.
The civil aviation authority announced that a missile struck the airport on Thursday, and a second missile hit a Saudia aircraft the same day, killing one of its pilots.
In addition to the fatalities, a number of Saudi citizens and residents of various nationalities were injured, the authority’s statement on X said.
Houthis, an Iran‑aligned rebel group that controls much of north‑western Yemen, also claimed attacks on the airport in Najran and Khamis Mushait air base, though Saudi Arabia has not yet confirmed those strikes.
These hits come after a spike in hostilities between the Saudi‑led coalition and Houthi forces, which seized strategic Red Sea ports and launched missile and drone attacks on Saudi aviation infrastructure last week.
Saudi Arabia has retaliated with airstrikes and a blockade against Yemen, prompting the Houthis to respond militarily, the Houthi spokesman said, citing “60 airstrikes and missile attacks” in the past 24 hours.
The attacks underscore the widening risk to civilian transport hubs in the region, amid political and humanitarian crises that have plagued Yemen for years.
