By Jana Choukeir, Maha El Dahan and Timour Azhari
DUBAI/RIYADH, Oct 11 (Reuters) – Yemen’s Houthis warned airlines, travellers and airport workers on Sunday to stay away from Saudi airports, a day after an attack on Riyadh’s international airport killed 12 people and wounded more than 300 others.
It was the deadliest such attack in the kingdom in more than a decade and comes amid an escalation of fighting between the Iran-backed Houthis and Saudi-backed Yemeni government forces.
“We renew our warning to all airlines, experts, employees, workers and travellers against using Saudi airports and airspace, as they are vulnerable to attack and have become a theatre of operations for our forces, with the exception of the airports in (the holy cities of) Mecca and Medina,” the Houthis said in a post on X.
“We urge everyone to take our warnings seriously, and Saudi Arabia bears responsibility for any failed interceptions.”
Saudi Arabia has stepped up its military involvement in Yemen in recent weeks, launching strikes against the Houthis and backing a Yemeni government counteroffensive after the group seized strategic territory along the Red Sea coast last month.
President Donald Trump said on Saturday the United States was considering joining Saudi strikes on the Houthis in the conflict, a spillover from the wider war on Iran that the US and Israel launched in February.
The Saudi-led coalition said on Saturday that a projectile had also fallen near King Fahd International Airport in Dammam, in the kingdom’s Eastern Province. The coalition also reported intercepting a drone in the region on Sunday.
INTERNATIONAL ENERGY CONFERENCE STILL GOING AHEAD IN RIYADH
Saturday’s attack has forced the temporary closure of King Khalid International Airport but the Saudi energy ministry said a long-planned international energy conference was still going ahead in Riyadh on Sunday.
The five-day WPC Energy Congress is taking place at a convention centre some 10 km (6 miles) from the airport. State TV said more than 70 ministers, 300 company executives and representatives of over 25 international energy organisations have confirmed their attendance.
It was not immediately clear whether the participants would attend in person or virtually.
A ministerial meeting of the International Energy Forum is also set to go ahead on Sunday, with its plenary session to be held behind closed doors, according to a media advisory. No further details were immediately available.
Separately, Saudi authorities notified parents that in-person classes would be suspended and shifted to remote learning from Sunday until Thursday for all students, teachers and administrative staff.
In Saturday’s attack, the third on Riyadh’s airport in a week, the 12 dead included 4 Saudis, 2 Bangladeshis and nationals of the United States, Jordan, Palestine, Syria, Sudan and Egypt, Saudi authorities said.
Saudi Arabia’s civil aviation authority said airport operations were temporarily suspended pending damage and safety assessments, without specifying when flights would resume.
Two previous attacks on Riyadh’s international airport earlier in the week had killed four people and caused heavy damage to a Saudi commercial plane parked on the tarmac.
(Reporting by Jana Choukeir, writing by Andrew Mills Editing by Gareth Jones)
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