Saudi-led coalition claims fresh Houthi missile interception after deadly strikes on Riyadh airport

Riyadh (Saudi Arabia): The Saudi-led military coalition said on Monday that it had "intercepted and destroyed" a ballistic missile fired by pro-Iranian Houthi fighters towards southern Saudi Arabia.

"The coalition intercepted and destroyed a ballistic missile launched by the Houthi terrorist militia towards Khamis Mushait," Major General Turki al-Malki, a spokesman for the coalition, wrote on X.

This X post comes after a weekend of escalating air attacks against key Saudi transport hubs. The strikes have forced the prolonged closure of Riyadh’s main international airport, caused multiple civilian casualties among foreign workers, and heightened fears of a wider regional conflict.

Fresh strikes spark weekend chaos in capital

The situation escalated dramatically on Sunday when a fresh Houthi projectile hit King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh, setting off a fire and damaging property. Although Saudi air defence systems managed to shoot down a second incoming missile nearby, the strike killed a Pakistani resident and injured 11 other people.

Saudi Arabia’s civil aviation authority confirmed the incident on X, stating that "the attack also caused property damage, the extent of which is currently being assessed". Flight tracking service Flightradar24 reported that authorities extended the airport’s operational closure by 24 hours until 2100 GMT on Monday.

Throughout Sunday, multiple loud explosions echoed across the Saudi capital, creating panic in residential areas. One inhabitant of the Al-Aarid neighbourhood in northern Riyadh described the disruption, saying: "The birds went into a frenzy after the sound. The whole house shook". Houthi forces also targeted Dammam airport in eastern Saudi Arabia on Sunday, where coalition forces subsequently shot down an incoming drone.

Saturday airport carnage leaves foreign workers among dead

Sunday's bombardment built upon a devastating attack on Saturday, which marked the deadliest assault on Saudi territory in more than ten years. According to the civil aviation authority, Saturday's strike killed 12 people: four Saudi citizens, two Bangladeshis, one American, one Egyptian, one Jordanian, one Syrian, one Palestinian, and one Sudanese. A total of 309 people suffered injuries.

On Sunday, the Indian embassy in Saudi Arabia confirmed that an Indian citizen had also died after succumbing to injuries received during Saturday's explosion. An earlier strike on Thursday at the same airport had already claimed three lives.

Eyewitnesses at Terminal 3 described chaotic scenes as travellers fled the blast area. A 32-year-old Riyadh resident recounted: "People who were in Terminal 3 started running towards us. Some had lost a hand or an arm. People were running while carrying injured people, covered in blood".

The overwhelming influx of wounded victims prompted health officials to issue a rare emergency mass call-up for doctors across the capital. Meanwhile, aviation officials reported that airport radar and communication systems suffered damage, requiring safety teams to assess damaged runways before flights could resume.

Global outcry as travel links face ongoing threat

The Houthi movement claimed responsibility for the sequence of strikes over a 24-hour period. Calling Saudi transport hubs "a theatre of operations for our forces", the group threatened to continue targeting airports, Red Sea oil tankers, and petroleum facilities.

The anti-Houthi coalition swiftly condemned Saturday's strike as a "full-fledged war crime" and vowed to "respond decisively". The escalation drew widespread international condemnation from the United Nations and world leaders. US President Donald Trump stated that he was considering joining Saudi retaliatory strikes against the Houthis. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also denounced the action, calling it a "horrific terrorist attack".

On Monday, Australia condemned the attacks as "unacceptable", having previously advised its citizens in Saudi Arabia to stay indoors and "shelter in place". Foreign embassies representing the United States, Canada, Germany, and Spain instructed their citizens to avoid Riyadh airport entirely.

The severe travel disruption comes at a sensitive time for the kingdom. It hits on the eve of Saudi Arabia's major annual business and entertainment convention season and coincides with the start of the peak travel period for Umrah pilgrims visiting Mecca.

Retaliatory strikes and ground clashes escalate in Yemen

In response to the weekend attacks, Houthi media reported that Saudi aircraft conducted two air strikes in Yemen's Houthi-held Sanaa governorate on Sunday. A spokesman for the Houthi-run health ministry confirmed on X that one civilian died and five others were wounded in the strikes.

On the ground in Yemen, military sources reported that Saudi-backed government forces launched a counter-offensive near the strategic Bab al-Mandab shipping lane. Houthi forces claimed to have repelled the push, though neither claim could be independently verified due to restricted access and fast-moving frontlines.

Saudi Arabia has led an international military coalition supporting Yemen's government since 2015, maintaining control over Yemeni airspace and Sanaa airport. Despite investing billions of dollars into high-tech defence systems, the kingdom remains vulnerable to aerial attacks.

Thomas Juneau, a security analyst at Ottawa University, explained: "Saudi air defences have been able to intercept some Houthi missile and drone attacks, but Saudi Arabia is so large that it's simply impossible for them to consistently defend themselves". Juneau added that Houthi forces now "want to do to Saudi Arabia what Saudi Arabia does to them".