Riyadh airport announces partial reopening
Riyadh: The King Khalid International Airport in the Saudi capital Riyadh was set to partially reopen after previous attacks suspended operations, authorities said on Sunday.
The airport said it would designate Terminal 1 for domestic flights and Terminal 2 for international flights operated by national carriers.
The airport was previously targeted in attacks causing multiple deaths and injuries, which prompted Saudi Arabia’s General Authority of Civil Aviation to temporarily suspend airport operations, Xinhua News Agency reported.
The Houthis have recently intensified attacks on Saudi Arabia as Saudi-backed Yemeni government forces launched military operations to retake areas held by the group.
Meanwhile, Yemen’s Houthi group and the Saudi-led coalition exchanged heavy attacks, as the Houthis claimed widespread missile and drone strikes across Saudi Arabia, while intense Saudi-led airstrikes rocked Houthi-held areas in Yemen, causing multiple casualties.
Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree said in a statement that the group launched seven missile and drone attacks targeting airports, oil facilities, and a military base in Riyadh, as well as the Saudi cities of Yanbu, Rabigh, Dammam, Najran, and Khamis Mushait on Saturday.
Saree said King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh was targeted in two stages. Other attacks struck targets including Saudi Aramco facilities in Yanbu and King Fahd International Airport in Dammam.
Meanwhile, the Saudi-led coalition announced it had intercepted and destroyed several missiles launched by the Houthi group toward the cities of Riyadh, Taif, and Yanbu, as well as a drone in the Eastern Province.
Saudi Arabia’s General Directorate of Civil Defence said debris from two intercepted missiles fell in the Mecca and Medina regions. The Houthi group later denied targeting the two holy cities, calling such claims “false and unfounded.”
The group claimed that Saturday’s attacks were launched after what it described as 100 Saudi airstrikes on Houthi-held areas of Yemen over the previous 24 hours, including Houthi-held capital Sanaa and the Red Sea port city of Mocha in the southwestern province of Taiz.