Saudi Arabia’s aviation regulator has extended the closure of the kingdom’s main airport following two deadly strikes over the weekend, as Yemen’s Houthi rebels continued launching missiles at the country.
The kingdom’s General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA) announced on Monday that the suspension of operations at King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh was extended. Several airlines, including Flydubai, Emirates, Etihad Airways, Qatar Airways, and Air India, have canceled flights to and from Riyadh.
Houthi strikes on the airport on Saturday left 12 people dead, including four Saudi nationals, and more than 300 injured. Another attack the following day killed a Pakistani national and injured 11 others.
The Houthis, an Iranian-backed Shiite group, have described the strikes as “deterrence operations,” accusing Saudi Arabia of maintaining an illegal “siege” of the parts of Yemen under their control.
Early Tuesday, General Turki Al-Malki, the spokesman for the Saudi-led coalition, said coalition forces intercepted two Houthi ballistic missiles launched toward Khamis Mushait, a city in southwestern Saudi Arabia.
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Videos posted on social media reportedly show Saudi air defenses launching interceptors into the sky.
The latest escalation in Yemen’s civil war, which began in 2014, was triggered by a Houthi offensive last month. In a rapid advance, the rebels captured the strategic port of Mokha and Perim Island in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, a vital shipping route connecting the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean. The territorial gains prompted the Saudi-backed, internationally recognized government to launch a counteroffensive aimed at retaking the lost territory.
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The Houthis, who control Yemen’s capital Sanaa, reported new gains in the Taiz province on Monday during heavy fighting with government troops.
The group said Saudi Arabia conducted nearly 120 airstrikes over the last 24 hours, targeting civilians in Sanaa and elsewhere. At least 385 people have been killed or wounded by Saudi strikes since September 3, many of them women and children, according to the Houthi health authorities.
