Newsinc24 Team Yemen's Houthis said on Thursday they targeted King Khalid International Airport in the Saudi capital Riyadh with a missile for a second time, as the group escalated its strikes on airports across the neighbouring kingdom. "Our armed forces targeted King Khalid Airport in Riyadh at midday with a ballistic missile that hit its target," said the Houthis' military spokesman Yahya Saree. The Houthis confirmed the strike in a statement, saying they had launched a ballistic missile at King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh and renewed their warning that they could force Saudi airspace to close.The group has stepped up attacks on Saudi cities and infrastructure after Riyadh backed forces loyal to Yemen's internationally recognised government in its renewed fight against the Houthis.They said the strike killed three people and injured several others. It was the third time this week that the armed group claimed to have targeted the airport.
Several explosions echoed across Riyadh on Thursday morning, witnesses said. The Saudi-led coalition fighting the group said earlier on Thursday it had intercepted two missiles fired at the kingdom's capital, coalition spokesperson Major General Turki al-Malki posted on X. Riyadh has not disclosed any further information on any damage or casualties.The developments marked a sharp escalation in the Houthis' campaign against Saudi Arabia as Yemen's civil war, dormant for years, has erupted again amid the wider US-Iran conflict.
The Houthis are Zaydi Shia Muslims, a specific branch of Islam historically rooted in northern Yemen that is theologically distinct from both the Twelver Shia Islam dominant in Iran and Saudi Arabia's Wahhabi-influenced Sunni tradition. The group says its latest offensive is a response to attacks by Saudi-backed forces supporting Yemen's internationally recognised government. The government has denied that it initiated the renewed escalation in the way described by the Houthis.
