Saudi vows response after Houthi airport attacks

Saudi Arabia’s energy minister on Monday said the country had been tested but would mount a “serious” response after a string of attacks on Riyadh’s international airport by Yemen’s Houthis that left 18 people dead.

“The events of recent weeks are serious. Our response must be equally serious,” Prince Abdul Aziz bin Salman told the WPC Energy Congress in Riyadh.

On Saturday, Houthi strikes killed 13 people and wounded hundreds at King Khalid International Airport, the deadliest attack on Saudi soil in more than a decade.

The Houthis said they launched the attacks in retaliation for “brutal Saudi aggression” against areas they control in western Yemen.

Four people died in earlier attacks on Wednesday and Thursday, and another was killed on Sunday. Operations remained suspended at the sprawling airport on Riyadh’s outskirts on Monday.

CCTV footage released by Saudi authorities showing Saturday’s attack captured Muslim pilgrims dressed in religious garments waiting in departure lounges before a sudden flash ripped through the building, sending burning debris crashing down.