Saudi Arabia said on Wednesday that Houthi strikes on two major airports killed three people and injured dozens more, in attacks that intensified the kingdom’s renewed war against the Iranian-backed militia in Yemen.
The Saudi government said the attacks hit the King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh and the Abha International Airport in southern Saudi Arabia. Yahya Saree, a Houthi military spokesman, said on Wednesday that the militia had attacked both airports with missiles or drones.
The Saudi-led military coalition battling the Houthis said on Wednesday that it retaliated for the airport strikes by attacking dozens of Houthi military sites in Yemen, including missile storage sites and command centers. The Houthis did not immediately respond to that claim.
The Houthis have managed to inflict few known fatalities on Saudi territory in recent years, and the kingdom’s toll would be first confirmed at an airport in the capital, Riyadh. The attacks could presage worse fighting on both sides of the border, just as the Saudi-backed Yemeni government has declared war against the Houthis and presses a military operation to retake strategically important territory from the group.
“I think we will see the Saudis react even more aggressively than they have been doing,” said Farea Al-Muslimi, a Yemen specialist at Chatham House, a London-based research group, after the latest attacks.
Saudi Arabia’s Civil Aviation Authority said the airport attacks occurred on Tuesday and Wednesday but did not specify when each was hit. Two women died and 28 people were injured at Abha, and a Sudanese man was killed and eight people injured at King Khalid, the kingdom’s statement said.
The renewed fighting has put Saudi Arabia and the Houthis, adversaries for over a decade, back in outright war. In 2015, a Saudi-led intervention in Yemen devolved into a grinding war that contributed to the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people from violence, hunger and disease, and failed to defeat the Houthis. A truce in 2022 established a fragile peace agreement until the conflict reignited.
The government of Yemen, backed by Saudi warplanes, began a military offensive this week to retake strategically important territory along the Red Sea from the Houthi militia, which is backed by Iran. A United Nations agency said Wednesday that nearly 200,000 people have been displaced in Yemen since early September, when fighting intensified.Now, the fighting could entangle more parties, after Pakistan and Turkey this week activated a defense pact to provide military support to Saudi Arabia.
A senior Pakistani military official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss operational matters, said on Wednesday that Pakistan Air Force fighter jets were being used in strikes against the Houthis.
Col. David O. Smith, a former U.S. Army attaché in Pakistan and a former top analyst for the Defense Intelligence Agency, said on Wednesday that, while he does not have access to classified figures, the consensus among analysts is that about 8,000 Pakistani troops have been deployed to Saudi Arabia.
He said the troops include a contingent from the Pakistan Air Force and the Army Air Defense, and that they would likely be used to help secure oil infrastructure. Colonel Smith added the Pakistani soldiers are unlikely to engage in direct combat with the Houthis, as Islamabad walks a fine line to preserve its relationship with Iran.
A second Pakistani official who also spoke on condition of anonymity said Pakistan’s role in the conflict is expected to focus on degrading Houthi drone and missile threats through air support, rather than a ground offensive in Yemen.
Pakistan’s military declined to comment.
On Wednesday, the Houthis fired missiles and drones at an airport in Aden, a government-controlled city in southern Yemen, and a spokesman for the Saudi-led military coalition said it had intercepted a missile north of Saudi Arabia’s capital.
As the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran transformed into an economic contest over control of critical waterways like the Strait of Hormuz, the Houthis began their own push into the Red Sea.
The militia, which controls much of northern Yemen, took aim at the Red Sea as an alternate shipping route for Saudi oil in July, declaring a blockade and attacking vessels. Last month, the Houthis gained more sway over the waterway by capturing Yemen’s Red Sea coast in a lightning offensive, trouncing the forces of the Saudi-backed government.
That Houthi triumph was a significant blow to Saudi Arabia, and it appears to have tipped the scales for Saudi decision makers, as they considered returning to all-out war with the Houthis.
The timing of the airport attacks was particularly sensitive. The Saudi authorities are planning to host several major international events in Riyadh this month, including the crown prince’s annual investment forum, which typically attracts billionaires and executives from around the world. It has been years since a Houthi strike killed anyone at a Saudi airport, analysts said.
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