Saudi crown prince moved between palaces amid Houthi attacks

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is being moved between heavily guarded palaces equipped with bunkers as Houthi attacks intensify, according to a Wall Street Journal report citing officials familiar with his movements. The security measures come amid escalating tensions following an attack on Riyadh’s King Khalid International Airport on Saturday. The attack reportedly killed 13 people and injured at least 300, making it one of the most serious attacks on Saudi Arabia in a decade.The 41-year-old crown prince has not appeared in public since Tuesday, when he took part in a national blood donation campaign, according to the report. He is being protected by a handpicked security team as fighting intensifies between Saudi Arabia and Yemen’s Houthi rebels.
Saudi Arabia faced its worst attack in a decade on Saturday after 13 were killed and at least 300 injured in an attack on Riyadh’s international airport.Around 60 per cent of scheduled flights at the Riyadh airport are expected to be cancelled on Monday, data from aviation analytics firm Cirium showed. Saudi energy minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman said that the kingdom’s response would be “equally serious” considering the gravity of the attacks.Officials have also said that they are running low on interceptors needed to defend themselves from further strikes.
The kingdom has asked France, Britain, Pakistan and Egypt to deploy air defence support to the region, officials told The Associated Press last month, with one noting that the US has seen its own stock dwindle during the Iran war. A bitter civil war has raged between the two sides with a fragile ceasefire agreed in 2022. The agreement broke down in July this year against the backdrop of the US-Israeli war on Iran. The Houthis resumed attacks after accusing the Saudis of firing on the Sanaa airport as a plane from Iran was trying to land. The Houthis, backed by Iran, are one of its most heavily armed supporters in the region. Iran’s military spokesperson Esmail Baghaei said that Tehran was “deeply concerned about developments in the Arabian Peninsula” and added that fighting “will only benefit the Israeli regime”.