Saudi Arabia’s Riyadh airport hit by second Houthi strike in two days

An international airport in the Saudi capital Riyadh has been hit by a second strike in as many days, officials have said.

A Saudi military spokesman said a projectile had hit King Khalid International Airport on Sunday, causing a fire in one of its passenger halls. Saudi Arabia’s civil aviation authority said there had been injuries.

It comes a day after a strike on the same airport killed 13 people and injured 308 others, following similar strikes earlier this week.

The Houthis in Yemen said they were behind the attacks and warned airlines and passengers against using Saudi Arabian airports and airspace.

The group said they had targeted the airport with a mix of ballistic and cruise missiles, as well as drones in the past 24 hours.

They also attacked oil facilities and Dammam airport in eastern Saudi Arabia, their military spokesman Brig Gen Yahya Saree said.

He vowed to continue the “escalating operations deep inside Saudi Arabia”, warning that all Saudi airports were potential targets apart from those in the holy cities of Mecca and Medina.

The Houthis have said they are targeting Saudi Arabia over its support for government forces in Yemen’s civil war, as well as an air strike on the airport in Sanaa.

On Sunday Maj Gen Turki al-Maliki, spokesman for the Saudi-led military coalition, said air defences had intercepted a missile near the airport in Riyadh, while authorities were dealing with the fire caused by an “unknown projectile” that hit Passenger Hall No 4.

US President Donald Trump has said the US would “make a decision” and “move very quickly” on whether to strike the Houthis, while UK Defence Secretary Wes Streeting suggested the UK could “potentially” provide more support for Saudi Arabia.