A fresh Houthi strike hit Riyadh's international airport on Sunday, a day after an attack claimed by the Yemeni group killed at least a dozen people and forced authorities to suspend operations there.

Saturday's attack, the deadliest on Saudi soil in more than a decade, was a sharp escalation in the Yemen war, where Riyadh has long militarily supported the internationally recognised government against the Houthis.

The Iran-backed group on Sunday claimed multiple attacks over the last 24 hours, including on the airport, and threatened to keep targeting the kingdom's transit hubs, calling them "a theatre of operations for our forces".

Hours later, the Saudi-led coalition fighting the group reported that a projectile struck King Khalid International Airport, sparking a fire. Air defences also intercepted a missile nearby, it added.

The fresh attack on the airport killed one person – a Pakistani resident – and wounded 11 others, Saudi Arabia's civil aviation authority said.

The wounded "were immediately transferred to several hospitals to receive the necessary medical care," the authority said on X. "The attack also caused property damage, the extent of which is currently being assessed."

Authorities have extended the closure of the airport by 24 hours until 2100 GMT on Monday, the tracking site Flightradar24 said on X.

AFP journalists and locals reported hearing the sound of multiple blasts in the Saudi capital on Sunday.

"The birds went into a frenzy after the sound. The whole house shook," said one resident of the Al-Aarid neighbourhood in the north of the city.

The civil aviation authority also reported another attack on Dammam airport in the east – which the Houthis also said they had targeted – a day after the Saudi coalition reported a projectile landing nearby. Shortly afterwards, the coalition reported shooting down a drone, also in the east.

The Houthis have stepped up their attacks on the Riyadh airport – where three people were also killed on Thursday – as well as on Saudi oil facilities and tankers in the Red Sea. Although Saudi Arabia has poured billions into its military, Houthi attacks continue to slip through.

"Saudi air defences have been able to intercept some Houthi missile and drone attacks, but Saudi Arabia is so large that it's simply impossible for them to consistently defend themselves," said Thomas Juneau, security analyst at Ottawa University.

The anti-Houthi coalition called Saturday's attack a "full-fledged war crime" and vowed to "respond decisively".

Houthi media reported two Saudi strikes in Yemen's Houthi-controlled Sanaa governorate on Sunday.

Saturday's attack drew condemnation from the United Nations and leaders around the world, including US President Donald Trump, who said he was considering joining Saudi strikes against the Houthis.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whose country does not have diplomatic relations with Saudi Arabia, also denounced the "horrific terrorist attack".

Four Saudi citizens, two Bangladeshis, one American, one Egyptian, one Jordanian, one Syrian, one Palestinian and one Sudanese were killed, the civil aviation authority said, with 309 people wounded.

The Indian embassy in Saudi Arabia also said one of its citizens died on Sunday after being wounded the day before.

An aviation source said airport radar and communications equipment had been damaged and runways needed to be assessed. (AFP)



Edited by Cecil Wong