UNITED NATIONS, Oct 12 (APP):UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has condemned a Houthi missile attack on Riyadh’s main airport that Saudi authorities say killed 12 people and wounded more than 300. In a short statement issued late on Saturday, he said attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure violate international law. “These attacks must cease immediately,” Guterres said. Saudi Arabia’s civil aviation authority said on Sunday that 309 people were wounded in …
UNITED NATIONS, Oct 12 (APP):UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has condemned a Houthi missile attack on Riyadh’s main airport that Saudi authorities say killed 12 people and wounded more than 300.
In a short statement issued late on Saturday, he said attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure violate international law. “These attacks must cease immediately,” Guterres said.
Saudi Arabia’s civil aviation authority said on Sunday that 309 people were wounded in the strike on King Khalid International Airport, some of them critically.
The dead include at least four Saudis, two Bangladeshis, a US citizen, plus others from Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Palestine and Sudan, according to the UN. Operations were suspended and flights diverted.
Late on Sunday, Saudi authorities reported that another projectile had hit a passenger terminal at the airport in Riyadh, causing further injuries and a fire.
It was the third Houthi attack on the airport this week. Thursday’s strikes killed three Saudis, including a Saudia pilot, and earlier attacks on King Khalid and Abha airports reportedly killed three more and wounded 36.
Houthi media reported the airport in Yemen’s capital Sana’a – which the group has controlled for years – had been hit by an airstrike on Sunday, blaming Saudi Arabia for the attack.
According to news reports, the vice-president of Yemen’s internationally recognized government called on Sunday for decisive action by regional and international partners to end the Houthi aggression.
The Iran-backed Houthis have fought the Saudi-backed government since 2014. A 2022 ceasefire largely held until this summer. In September, the Houthis swept down Yemen’s Red Sea coast, capturing the port of Mokha and islands in the Bab al-Mandab strait.
Early this month, government forces launched a counteroffensive, backed by Saudi-led air strikes, aiming to retake all Houthi-held territory – including Sana’a. The Houthis have answered with missile and drone attacks on Saudi Arabia.
The battle for Bab al-Mandab, the narrow gateway to the Red Sea, is a spillover from the US-Iran conflict which has destabilized global oil and gas supplies through the vital Strait of Hormuz in the Gulf.
With disruptions in the strait, the Red Sea has become vital for Saudi oil exports.
Saudi officials and the Yemeni government say they have now regained control of the Red Sea chokepoint – but the Houthis have denied the claim.
The UN Security Council met Friday morning in New York on Yemen where Special Envoy Hans Grundberg said the country had slid back into full-scale war.
The conflict is intensifying, raising regional security and economic risks, he told the Council.
UN Deputy Emergency Relief Coordinator Mohamed Yahya said over 200,000 people have been displaced since August, the highest new displacement since the now-shattered 2022 truce.