Saudi Arabia reopens Riyadh airport terminals as Houthis threaten fresh strikes

Saudi Arabia partially reopened Riyadh's King Khalid airport as Houthi rebels threatened further strikes. The move comes amid renewed fighting that has ended a truce largely holding since 2022.Riyadh airport partially reopens despite Houthi threat to keep targeting facilitySaudi Arabia partially resumed operations at King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh on Sunday, even as Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthi rebels threatened to continue targeting the facility, calling it a “military target”.The airport had suspended operations on October 10 following an attack claimed by the Houthis that killed 13 people, marking the deadliest attack in Saudi Arabia in more than a decade.Despite the partial reopening, flight-tracking data from Flightradar24 showed little air traffic at the airport on Sunday. The airport announced late on Saturday that Terminal 1 would handle domestic flights, while Terminal 2 would serve international flights operated by Saudi national carriers.Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree warned that the airport would “never be safe” and urged airlines, airport staff and travellers to avoid using the facility. Saudi Arabia also reported intercepting another wave of missiles and drones on Sunday as fighting with the Houthis continued. The group claimed to have targeted the Riyadh airport and other locations in the kingdom, including Khamis Mushait and Jazan. It was not immediately clear whether the Houthi claims corresponded to the attacks Saudi authorities said they had intercepted.Saudi civil defence authorities said shrapnel from the interception of two ballistic missiles over Khamis Mushait and Ahad Rafidah injured two people and damaged residential buildings and vehicles. The Saudi-led coalition said two drones and a ballistic missile had been launched towards Riyadh, while a cruise missile was fired towards Khamis Mushait. It later reported intercepting 10 ballistic missiles targeting southern Saudi Arabia.Emergency alerts were also issued for Riyadh, Abha, Khamis Mushait, Jazan and Najran on Sunday, before authorities announced that the danger had passed.The Saudi-led coalition had said earlier this month that the Houthis carried out 20 attacks on the airport between October 1 and 11. The Houthis also claimed to have targeted the airport and Saudi oil facilities on Saturday, though Saudi authorities did not directly comment on those claims.The escalating conflict has added to regional instability amid the US-Israeli offensive against Iran, placing Saudi Arabia, a US ally, under growing pressure.Saudi Arabia has intensified its strikes against the Houthis after the group seized strategic territory along Yemen's Red Sea coast last month, advancing towards the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, a critical global shipping chokepoint used by Gulf oil producers.The renewed fighting has shattered a United Nations-brokered truce that had largely held since 2022. Saudi Arabia intervened in Yemen's civil war in 2015, leading a coalition supporting the internationally recognised government after the Houthis seized the capital, Sanaa, in 2014.- Ends