RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s energy minister on Monday said the country had been tested but would mount a “serious” response after a string of attacks on Riyadh’s international airport by Yemen’s Ansar Allah that left 18 people dead.
Lethal airport strikes since last week have rocked the world’s top oil exporter, which is pursuing an expensive economic reform drive aimed at attracting foreign investment.
Yemen’s civil war has reignited months into the US-Iran conflict that has roiled energy markets and plunged the Middle East into crisis.
“Energy security can’t be taken for granted,” Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman told an energy conference in Riyadh, as oil prices topped $105 a barrel. “The events of recent weeks are serious; our response must be equally serious.”
“For Saudi Arabia, these circumstances have tested our infrastructure, our institutions, our people, and our resilience,” he added.
On Saturday, Ansar Allah strikes killed 13 people and wounded hundreds at King Khalid International Airport – the deadliest attack on Saudi soil in more than a decade.
Four people died in earlier attacks on Wednesday and Thursday, and another was killed on Sunday. Operations remained suspended at the sprawling airport on Riyadh’s outskirts on Monday.
CCTV footage of Saturday’s attack released by Saudi authorities showed pilgrims waiting in departure lounges before a sudden flash tore through the building and brought down flaming debris.
The atmosphere in Riyadh remained tense on Monday, as state broadcaster Al Ekhbariya said the military coalition was responding to drone and missile threats, and Australia’s embassy warned its citizens in the city to shelter in place.
The Ansar Allah on Sunday claimed multiple attacks over the previous 24 hours, including on the airport, and threatened to keep targeting Saudi transit hubs.
Hours later, the coalition said yet another projectile had struck Riyadh airport, sparking a fire, while air defences intercepted a missile nearby.
The Saudi-led coalition said on Monday that it had also “intercepted and destroyed” a ballistic missile heading for the southern city of Khamis Mushait, home to a major military base.
The attack drew condemnation from the United Nations and leaders including US President Donald Trump, who said he was considering joining Saudi strikes against the Ansar Allah.
Meanwhile, Saudi authorities extended the suspension of operations at Riyadh’s international airport following a series of deadly attacks.
The General Authority of Civil Aviation, in a statement, “announced the extension of the suspension of operations at King Khalid International Airport”.
It said the extension was needed to “complete the necessary procedures to verify the safety of the facilities and their operational readiness”.
The authority did not specify when operations would resume.
A senior aviation source who oversees flights to the Gulf for an airline said operations would be halted for the remainder of the working week in Saudi Arabia, according to messages sent to the carrier on Monday from Saudi aviation authorities.
“They told us it would be until at least Thursday. There are no flights until the end of the week,” the source said.
He added that Terminals 3 and 4 were damaged, along with the airport’s radar and communications equipment, and the runways have yet to be assessed. – AFP
