Houthi missile hits Riyadh airport as airlines suspend flights

Yemen's Houthi movement struck the Saudi capital's main airport with a ballistic missile on Thursday, its second claimed hit on King Khalid International Airport in two days, and global airlines are now pulling out of Riyadh.

Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree said the group hit the airport at midday with a ballistic missile that struck its target, part of a wider campaign against Saudi infrastructure. Witnesses and people briefed on the matter told Reuters that smoke was seen rising from a stationary aircraft at the airport earlier Thursday. The Houthis also issued what they called a last warning to airlines over the use of Saudi airspace.

The disruption is severe. Flight tracking data showed nearly half of all Thursday departures from Riyadh canceled by midafternoon, with more than 150 cancellations and long delays through the day. Lufthansa Group suspended all flights to Riyadh through October 16, citing current developments in the Middle East. Air India canceled all flights to the Saudi capital through October 10 after one of its Delhi to Riyadh flights reportedly turned back mid route.

This week's attacks have already killed. Saudi Arabia's civil aviation authority confirmed that attacks on King Khalid airport in Riyadh and Abha airport in the southwest on October 6 and 7 killed three people and injured 36. A Sudanese resident was killed in Riyadh and eight people were hurt, including five Saudi citizens; in Abha, two women of Moroccan and Algerian nationality were killed and 28 people were injured.

The strikes are part of a sharp escalation. After weeks of Houthi missile and drone attacks on the kingdom, Saudi Arabia launched a renewed war against the Iran backed group on Monday, fought on the ground by a patchwork of Yemeni government forces with Saudi air support. Riyadh is now asking allies far and wide for help, and Syria is weighing whether to send troops. The Houthis, for their part, keep proving they can reach the Saudi capital.