RIYADH (The Thursday Times) — The United States mission in Saudi Arabia issued a nationwide security alert on Saturday urging Americans in the kingdom to exercise “heightened vigilance” because of an increased threat of attacks by Yemen’s Houthis, as the Saudi-led coalition said it had destroyed two Houthi drones launched towards Riyadh and the south.
The mission said Houthi attacks on civilian airports and other critical infrastructure in Saudi Arabia had “caused civilian casualties and severe travel disruptions”, and warned that the hostilities could spread “rapidly”.
“Please take extreme caution if you choose to use airports in Saudi Arabia,” it said, urging travellers to check their flight status directly with both their airline and the airport.
Airports open, with limits
Riyadh’s King Khalid International Airport, which the Houthis said on Friday they had attacked with a drone, partially reopened on October 23 for domestic flights and some international services run by Saudi carriers, the mission said. A limited number of flights normally based in Riyadh are operating from Prince Naif bin Abdulaziz International Airport in Qassim, while the airports in Jeddah and Dammam remain open with some delays and cancellations.
Foreign airlines have been cautious. Air India and IndiGo have kept their Saudi flights suspended, while Qatar Airways has resumed flights to Riyadh and Dammam after a month-long halt.
The State Department ordered non-emergency US government employees and their families to leave Saudi Arabia on October 23. US government staff who remain need special permission from the head of the mission to use any Saudi airport and may not travel within 20 miles of the Yemeni border, the alert said. All land crossings, including the King Fahd Causeway to Bahrain, remain open.
Drones over Riyadh
The coalition’s spokesman, Major General Turki al-Maliki, said in a statement that “two drones launched by the Houthi militia were intercepted and destroyed in the Riyadh and southern regions”. He did not say whether anyone had been hurt or anything damaged.
Saudi air defences had intercepted Houthi missiles and drones fired towards Riyadh, Makkah, and other areas on Wednesday. The Houthis denied targeting Makkah.
Fighting between the coalition and the Houthis reignited in July, ending the relative calm of a 2022 UN-brokered truce, and has intensified during the US-Israeli war with Iran. In October, back-to-back attacks on the Riyadh airport killed at least 20 people. On Thursday, the UN Security Council renewed its Yemen sanctions regime until November 2027, and Arab lawmakers have launched a push to have the Houthis listed as a terrorist group.
