Three people have been killed and 36 others wounded in attacks targeting airports in Saudi Arabia, as fighting between Houthi rebels and Saudi-backed Yemeni forces escalates.
Saudi civil aviation authorities said one person was killed and eight injured in an attack on King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh, while two others died and 28 were wounded in an attack on facilities at Abha airport.
The authorities said the attacks occurred on Tuesday and Wednesday but did not specify which incident happened on each day.
The Saudi-led coalition fighting the Houthis vowed retaliation, saying the attacks “will not go unpunished”.
It later said its forces had struck more than 80 Houthi military sites across the Saada, Hodeidah, Jawf and Marib governorates.
The attacks came amid a wider escalation in Yemen, where Houthi forces also targeted Aden International Airport with ballistic missiles and drones carrying explosives on Wednesday.
Yemen’s Transport Ministry said one missile landed close to the runway shortly before a Cairo-bound flight was due to arrive.
Aden airport serves as a major international gateway for areas of Yemen outside Houthi control.
Fighting has intensified around the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, a key global shipping route, after Yemeni government forces, backed by Saudi-led coalition air strikes, launched a counteroffensive to retake strategic territory captured by the Houthis in September.
The conflict is also linked to the wider US-Iran confrontation and has deepened Yemen’s humanitarian crisis.
The International Organization for Migration said more than 200,000 people had been displaced since the latest fighting began, while the United Nations said three out of four families in some parts of the country were going hungry.
The Houthis, who control much of northern Yemen, seized the capital, Sanaa, in 2014, prompting Saudi Arabia to lead a military intervention against the group.
Saudi Arabia and its allies accuse Iran of arming and supporting the Houthis, allegations denied by both the group and Tehran.
