Houthi attacks on Saudi airports kill three
Abha and Riyadh airports count 36 wounded, Saudi civil aviation says. The coalition vows punishment, and Lufthansa and Air India suspend flights to the capital.
Houthi rebels from Yemen, who are backed by Iran, attacked the airports of Abha and Riyadh in Saudi Arabia this week. Three people were killed and 36 wounded, according to Saudi civil aviation authorities, as cited by TIME.
In Abha, the dead were two women, one Moroccan and one Algerian, and 28 more people were hurt. In Riyadh, the attack on King Khalid International Airport killed a Sudanese man and wounded eight people: five Saudis, two Egyptians and a Pakistani.
On Thursday, the Saudi-led coalition said it had intercepted three ballistic missiles: two headed for Riyadh and one for Khamis Mushait, according to Al Jazeera. Fragments of one fell on a kindergarten and a clinic complex in the capital; Saudi civil defense reported no casualties.
Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree said another missile hit Riyadh airport. Saudi Arabia has not confirmed that attack.
The coalition's response
Turki al Malki, the coalition's spokesman, said attacks on civilians in the kingdom "will not go unpunished," according to The National, a news outlet based in the United Arab Emirates. The coalition says it destroyed 82 Houthi military targets in Saada, Hodeida, Al Jawf and Marib. No independent source has verified that figure.
Saree asked airlines, "for the last time," to stay out of Saudi airspace. Lufthansa Group suspended its flights to Riyadh until Oct. 16, and Air India canceled its own at least through the weekend.
The attacks follow an offensive by Yemeni government forces, backed from the air by Riyadh, to retake ground near the Bab el Mandeb strait. The conflict adds to the war the United States and Israel launched against Iran on Feb. 28. According to TIME, the coalition accuses Iran of arming the rebels, and both Tehran and the Houthis deny it.
Since June, more than 200 000 Yemenis have had to leave their homes, according to the International Organization for Migration; in mid-September the figure was 76 000. Whether the missile the Houthis claim actually reached Riyadh airport remains unclear.
