RIYADH — Riyadh’s King Khalid International Airport stayed closed on Sunday and schools across the capital moved online, a day after a missile strike blamed on the Houthis killed 12 people and injured 309. The Saudi-led coalition in Yemen promised a “decisive” response, while Washington has not said whether it will join.
Flightradar24 said the airport’s closure was extended until 9 p.m. on Sunday, Gulf News reported. Riyadh schools will switch to distance learning for the entire week, according to a ministry email to parents seen by AFP, the second such order in less than a month. Reuters reported that the remote-learning order, running from Sunday to Thursday, covers all students, teachers and administrative staff. The US, Canadian, German and Spanish embassies told citizens to avoid the airport, and a senior Western diplomat told AFP that several embassies were banning their staff from using it over the next week.
Our earlier report has the casualty figures and the first reactions.
Coalition Promises a Firm Reply
Coalition spokesman Maj. Gen. Turki Al-Maliki called the strike a “full-fledged war crime” and said it would be met with a firm response, Arab News reported. Al-Maliki also said a projectile fell near King Fahd International Airport in Dammam and that a drone was intercepted over the eastern region. Early Sunday, the coalition said it intercepted a missile southeast of the capital, France 24 reported.
The coalition had already said it destroyed 136 military targets in a “large-scale operation” in Houthi-held areas, AFP reported. The strike came a week into “Yemen Dawn,” an operation launched by Yemen’s government to retake state institutions from the Houthis. The coalition said 100 fighter jets took part in its first hours and that it destroyed 324 targets, Asharq Al-Awsat reported. Saudi-backed government forces were advancing around the Bab al-Mandab strait, a key Red Sea chokepoint, military sources told AFP. The Houthis confirmed the attack there but said they repelled it.
Washington Still Weighing
Asked Saturday whether he had changed his mind about joining Saudi strikes on the Houthis, President Donald Trump said: “We may.” “We’re going to look at it,” he told reporters at the White House. “We just found out about the recent attack, so we’ll make a decision.” US media have reported that earlier Saudi requests for US military help were rebuffed, AFP said.
Saudi Arabia is also running low on missile interceptors and has asked France, Britain, Pakistan and Egypt to deploy air defences, the Associated Press reported.
Energy Congress Goes Ahead
The five-day WPC Energy Congress is going ahead at a convention centre about 10 km (6 miles) from the airport. State TV said more than 70 ministers, 300 company executives and representatives of over 25 international energy organisations had confirmed attendance, Reuters reported, though it was not immediately clear whether they would attend in person or virtually.
