Houthi strike hits passenger plane at Riyadh's main airport

Houthi strike hits passenger plane at Riyadh's main airport

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A passenger plane has been hit by Houthi fire at King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh, Reuters reported Thursday, citing footage that circulated on social media.

According to the report, the aircraft was empty and parked at a terminal gate when it was apparently struck by a ballistic missile fired from Yemen. The Saudis said they intercepted two ballistic missiles launched at the kingdom earlier in the day. The strike disrupted air traffic at the busiest airport in Saudi Arabia.

The Saudi government said Wednesday that Houthi attacks had struck both King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh and Abha International Airport in the country's south. Yahya Saree, a Houthi military spokesman, said the militia struck both airports using missiles or drones.

The Saudi-led military coalition fighting the Houthis announced Wednesday that it responded to the airport attacks by striking dozens of Houthi military targets in Yemen, including missile storage sites and command centers. The Houthis did not immediately respond to that claim.

A senior Pakistani military official, speaking anonymously to discuss operational matters, told The New York Times that Pakistani Air Force fighter jets were used in strikes against the Houthis. This marks the first time one of the Mecca Pact (a Saudi-led Islamic military coalition) member states has come to the defense of a fellow member.

The attacks mark a sharp escalation in Yemen's civil war, which had been paused since a 2022 ceasefire but reignited in recent weeks. The Houthis seized stretches of the Red Sea coast last month, including territory along the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, prompting a Saudi-backed counterattack that retook ground around the strait this week. Still, the Houthis have pressed gains elsewhere, surrounding Yemen's third-largest city, Taiz, and the fighting has displaced 200,000 people since it resumed.

The stakes for Saudi Arabia are tied to the Mecca Pact, a mutual defense treaty it signed with Turkey and Pakistan this summer, though Turkey has not yet ratified it. Turkey said Wednesday it would send mainly defensive and technical support, including equipment, intelligence sharing and weapons systems, while Pakistan has already flown military equipment to Aden and deployed troops inside Saudi Arabia to help secure its borders.

A US official and a Syrian defense official said Damascus was weighing its own options for military support, from defensive aid to an offensive role against the Houthis, even as a Syrian diplomat stressed that Syria's immediate focus remains rebuilding after its own civil war.