Saudi Arabia investigates air defense failures after deadly Houthi strikes on Riyadh airport

Saudi authorities are examining how Houthi drones and missiles got past the kingdom's air defenses and hit Riyadh's main airport, an attack that left at least 13 dead, PBS NewsHour reported. The outlet cited two regional officials who spoke to the Associated Press without being named.

The officials said preliminary results indicate the Iran-aligned Yemeni group sent drones ahead to open the way for a combination of cruise and ballistic missiles. Investigators also want to know why defense systems gave no earlier alert, given that the weapons covered over 1,000 kilometers, according to PBS, which said more than 300 people were hurt.

According to BBC News, King Khalid International Airport has come under fire four times in a week. Thursday's strikes killed three Saudis, one of them a Saudia pilot. The Saturday missile hit on Terminal 3 killed 13, among them four Saudis, an American and people from several other countries. A Pakistani man died Sunday after Terminal 4 was struck, the BBC said, citing Saudi civil aviation authorities. Dammam's King Fahd International Airport was targeted the same day, with no casualties.

At an energy industry gathering in Riyadh on Monday, Energy Minister Prince Abdul Aziz bin Salman said: "The events of recent weeks are serious. Our response must be equally serious." Both outlets carried his remarks.

A Houthi military spokesman said the group fired at the Riyadh and Dammam airports and at two oil and gas sites, calling the strikes retaliation for 124 Saudi air raids in a single day, the BBC reported. He told airlines to avoid Saudi airports other than for flights serving Mecca and Medina. On Monday night, blasts were heard over Riyadh and the Saudi-led coalition said it had shot down a ballistic missile, the BBC added.

Houthi authorities blamed Saudi strikes for civilian deaths in Yemen. PBS cited the group's health ministry as saying nine people, five of them children, died in strikes in al-Jawf province. The BBC relayed the same ministry's account of a child killed Sunday when a home in Sanaa was hit.

Both outlets reported that President Donald Trump said he was considering direct U.S. military action against the Houthis. Washington has so far limited its role to intelligence and targeting assistance, PBS said. UN Secretary-General António Guterres said he was "deeply shocked" by the Saturday strike, according to the BBC.

Iran, which rejects accusations that it supplies the Houthis with weapons, expressed concern and offered to mediate, both outlets reported. Anwar Gargash, a diplomatic adviser to UAE leaders, urged Gulf states to act together on defense, PBS reported.

PBS said the Riyadh airport was still shut on Monday. The BBC noted that an informal truce between the Saudis and Houthis began breaking down in July, and that the Houthis took ground near the Bab el-Mandeb Strait last month.

Compiled by True News from reporting by PBS NewsHour and BBC News. Each outlet's original story is linked below.

Originally published by True News: https://truenews.bagleyenterprises.net/stories/84