Saudi Arabia sees disruptions at Riyadh airport amid ballistic missile attacks from Houthis

The Houthi rebel group claimed it successfully struck Saudi Arabia’s King Khalid International Airport in the capital city of Riyadh with two ballistic missiles launched overnight Wednesday and early Thursday morning.The ballistic missile airstrikes come during a week of Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia and threats to the Saudi airports. Saudi Arabia has given various updates throughout the week, with its General Authority of Civil Aviation confirming that King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz International Airport in Jizan and Najran International Airport were hit in airstrikes on Monday.The Saudi General Authority of Civil Aviation announced in a statement on Wednesday that two people died in an attack on Abha International Airport and one person died in an attack on King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh, adding that 36 people were injured. The GACA has not yet released any public statements on the Houthis’ second reported ballistic missile attack on the Riyadh airport from Thursday morning. Houthi Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree claimed the Houthis struck the Riyadh airport Thursday morning, “causing damage and disrupting air traffic,” in a statement on X.Multiple outlets, including the Associated Press, have reported explosions in Riyadh and a blast at the city’s airport. The outlet also reported that passengers in the airport had been told to evacuate and leave their baggage behind.Flight tracker Flightradar24 announced that the Riyadh airport was “closed again” around 7 a.m. after holding flights on Wednesday. “Last landing 80+ minutes ago. Last take off 90+ minutes ago,” the flight monitor wrote on X. However, flight tracker FlightAware shows a Nile Air flight that departed from the Riyadh airport at about 3:30 p.m. local time, 8:30 a.m. There have been several delays and cancellations at the airport on Thursday, according to multiple online flight trackers.A spokesman for the anti-Houthi forces in Yemen, Col. Turki al Maliki of the Coalition Forces, wrote on X that the group intercepted and destroyed three ballistic missiles aimed at Saudi Arabia on Thursday, one aimed at Khamis Mushait and two aimed at Riyadh.CHRIS MURPHY TRAVELS TO SAUDI ARABIA AS SIRENS BLARE WARNINGS OF HOUTHI MISSILESSaree also warned “employees, experts, engineers, and workers in all Saudi oil facilities against being present in locations that represent targets for our forces” on Thursday morning.The round of fighting comes as the latest escalation in the conflict between the Saudis and the Iran-supported Houthis, after fighting picked back up this summer.