Houthis claim new missile attack on Riyadh airport and Saudi pipeline stations; coalition says it destroyed two launchers in Sanaa

The Houthis said on Monday 26 October that they fired a new ballistic missile at King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh, hours after flights resumed there, while the Saudi-led coalition said it intercepted the missile and destroyed two Houthi launchers in the Yemeni capital Sanaa. The Houthis later claimed attacks on Saudi Arabia’s East-West crude oil pumping stations, which the kingdom had not confirmed at the time of reporting.

Riyadh airport targeted again

According to ABC News, Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree announced the attack on Monday morning. The strike came hours after Riyadh’s airport had resumed flights following earlier deadly Houthi attacks. Saudi military spokesman Col. Turki Al-Maliki said Saudi forces intercepted a Houthi ballistic missile bound for Riyadh and had carried out a series of airstrikes in Houthi-held territory against missile storage and launch sites. Saudi civil defence issued a warning for the capital and, an hour later, said the danger had passed.

Launchers destroyed in Sanaa

The coalition said it destroyed two Houthi ballistic missile launchers in Sanaa, including the one used to fire the missile towards Riyadh, The National reported. The Houthis, who have held Sanaa since 2014, then claimed strikes on the East-West pipeline pumping stations as well as on the airport. The pipeline is around 1,200 kilometres long and has become a key export route while the Strait of Hormuz is effectively closed by the wider war, the newspaper noted. Saudi Arabia shut it temporarily in September after a drone attack that Riyadh and Baghdad said came from Iraq. Houthi claims of damage have not been independently confirmed.

Toll at the airport

The National reports that a strike on King Khalid International Airport on 10 October killed 13 people, the deadliest attack in Saudi Arabia in more than a decade, and that Houthi attacks this month have killed 17 in all. Two terminals reopened on Sunday. Our earlier report on the latest escalation is here: Houthis fire two missiles at Aden airport, Yemen says; Saudi-led coalition downs missile aimed at Riyadh.

Diplomacy and what comes next

The fighting coincides with talks in Tehran. Iran is hosting a security meeting with senior officials from Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan, with Saudi Deputy Minister for Public Diplomacy Rayed Krimly saying the visit is aimed at “de-escalation and finding diplomatic solutions.” Saudi Arabia’s delegation includes Defence Minister Khalid bin Salman, according to Krimly’s post as reported by ABC News. See also: Saudi, Pakistani and Turkish delegations meet Iranian officials in Tehran as Trump weighs a deal or renewed strikes. There was no immediate coalition comment on the pipeline claim, and neither side’s casualty claims for the latest exchange could be verified independently.