Highlights:
- Air defences intercept missile near airport, coalition says
- Houthis renew warnings against using Saudi airports
- Thirteen people killed in attack on airport on Saturday
- Riyadh airport remains closed on Sunday
- Conferences going ahead in Riyadh despite attacks, Saudi ministry says
One person was killed and nearly a dozen hurt in a new attack on Riyadh's international airport on Sunday, Saudi authorities reported, a day after a strike claimed by Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis killed 13 people and wounded more than 300.
Saudi-led coalition forces in Yemen said an unidentified projectile had targeted Terminal 4 at Riyadh's international airport on Sunday, causing a fire. Eleven people were wounded in addition to the fatality, the Saudi civil aviation authority said.
Coalition forces also said Saudi air defences had intercepted a cruise missile in the vicinity of King Khalid International Airport. They later added that a drone had been intercepted and destroyed in the country's Eastern Province, and a ballistic missile launched towards Khamis Mushait had been intercepted. Emergency alerts were also issued in Abha, in the south, early on Monday, but the danger had since passed, Saudi Civil Defence said.
The strikes have exposed vulnerabilities in Saudi defence capabilities as the kingdom wages an air campaign against the Houthis, who are fighting a ground war in Yemen against the Saudi-backed Yemeni government.
Footage released by Saudi state television of Saturday's attack on Riyadh airport showed scores of religious pilgrims lined up at a gate as they prepared to travel to Islam's two holiest sites. A bright orange flash sent people running in panic, while parts of the roof appeared to cave in.
The airport was closed after the attack, the deadliest in the kingdom in more than a decade.
Houthis claim responsibility for other attacks
In a televised speech on Sunday, Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree claimed responsibility for Saturday's attack and said the group had also struck the airport in Dammam, in Saudi Arabia's Eastern Province, and two facilities belonging to Saudi oil giant Saudi Aramco.
The Saudi government's media office and Aramco did not respond to requests for comment.
The Saudi civil aviation authority confirmed the strike on Dammam's King Fahd International Airport late on Sunday, adding that "damage assessments and safety inspections of airport facilities are under way".
An eyewitness aboard a taxiing aircraft at Dammam told Reuters that at around 8.30 pm (1730 GMT) on Sunday, they saw a projectile strike the tarmac beside several parked aircraft, causing a fire. The witness said the aircraft returned to the gate. Passengers disembarked and were told to leave.
Flight-tracking website Flightradar24 showed several delays and cancellations on Sunday for arrivals and departures at Dammam airport, the kingdom's third-largest.
The Houthis had earlier on Sunday renewed their warning against using Saudi airports. "We urge everyone to take our warnings seriously, and Saudi Arabia bears responsibility for any failed interceptions," the group said.
Britain's embassy in Saudi Arabia advised British citizens in a post on X against all but essential travel to Jeddah, Dammam and all airports in the kingdom except the airport in Medina.
US aviation authorities issued a notice to US airlines to exercise caution while flying to or over the kingdom.
'Worse is yet to come,' Houthis warn
Saudi Arabia has recently stepped up its military involvement in Yemen, launching strikes against the Houthis and backing a government counter-offensive after the Houthis seized strategic territory along the Red Sea coast last month.
The Houthis said on Sunday that Saudi Arabia had carried out 124 air strikes in Yemen in the past 24 hours. "Unless the Saudi enemy stops its aggression and interference in Yemen, worse is yet to come, God willing," Yemen's Houthi-run foreign ministry said in statements carried by Al Masirah television.
US President Donald Trump said on Saturday that the United States was considering joining Saudi strikes on the Houthis in the conflict, a spillover from the wider war with Iran that the US and Israel launched in February.
In a post on Telegram, Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said he had told his Saudi counterpart that Tehran was ready to help facilitate dialogue between Saudi Arabia and Yemen.
Energy conference still going ahead
A five-day conference organised by international energy organisation WPC Energy opened as planned on Sunday at a convention centre about 10 km (6 miles) from Riyadh airport, the Saudi energy ministry said.
A ministerial meeting of the International Energy Forum also went ahead, according to a media advisory from the ministry. It was not clear which ministers attended.
Italy's energy minister, Gilberto Pichetto Fratin, whose country was co-hosting, had said on Friday that he would participate remotely via video link.
German officials were trying to organise a return flight for Economy Minister Katherina Reiche. She was supposed to return to Berlin from Riyadh on Monday, but the ministry said it appeared likely that her flight would be unable to take off.
Separately, Saudi authorities announced that in-person classes at schools in Riyadh would shift to remote learning from Sunday until Thursday.
Sunday's attack brought the death toll from attacks on Riyadh's airport to 18 for the week. In Saturday's attack, the dead included four Saudis, while the remainder were foreign nationals, Saudi authorities said.