DUBAI/RIYADH, Oct 11 (Reuters) - The Saudi-led coalition in Yemen said an “unidentified projectile” had targeted Riyadh’s international airport on Sunday, causing a fire, hours after the Iran-backed Houthis warned airlines and travellers to stay away from Saudi airports.
The coalition also said Saudi air defences had intercepted a cruise missile in the vicinity of King Khalid International Airport. No further details were immediately available.
The airport remains closed after an attack there on Saturday killed 12 people and wounded more than 300 others, the deadliest such strike on the kingdom in over a decade, amid an escalation of fighting between the Houthis and Yemeni government forces.
Despite the airport’s temporary closure, the Saudi Energy Ministry said a long-planned international energy conference was still going ahead in Riyadh on Sunday. The Saudi-led coalition in Yemen said Sunday’s projectile had targeted Terminal 4 of the airport, without elaborating.
Earlier, the Houthis had said in a statement on X: “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.”
So which particular islamofascist faction am I supposed to cheer for now?
Clearly the Saudis, unless you want to see more war and destruction. Even if one side is not in a moral sense better than the other, peace and stability still have great worth.
(Plus the Saudis usually act in their own rational self-interest and therefore can be negotiated with, whereas the Houthis are idealists.)
The Saudis have been exporting terrorism for decades. And they execute people for sorcery. So pardon me, if I have my doubts here. I agree that they’re slightly less bonkers than the Houthis, but that’s not saying much.
