Houthi Strike on Riyadh Airport Kills 12, Injures Over 300
Is this simple reciprocity for Yemen's bombed neighborhoods or terrorism that holds civilian aviation hostage?
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Above: Airports attacked in Saudi Arabia as of Oct. 9. Image credit: Kadri Suat Celik/Anadolu/Getty Images
The Facts
- Saudi Arabia's General Authority of Civil Aviation said 12 people were killed and 309 wounded, some critically, in a Houthi attack on Riyadh's King Khalid International Airport on Saturday. The dead included four Saudis, two Bangladeshis and one citizen each of the U.S., Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Palestine and Sudan.
- King Khalid International Airport remained shut Sunday; Flightradar24 said the closure had been extended another 24 hours. More than 600 flights were canceled, and Riyadh schools were ordered to switch to remote learning for the week.
- Yemen's Houthis renewed a warning on Sunday to airlines and travelers against using Saudi airports and airspace, calling them "a theatre of operations" for their forces. Military spokesman Yahya Saree excluded Mecca and Medina airports from the warning.
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The Spin
Establishment-critical narrative
When bombs keep falling on Yemeni neighborhoods, shutting the skies over Riyadh is simple reciprocity — airport for airport, siege for siege. Warning carriers and travelers in advance is more consideration than Yemeni civilians got from coalition warplanes. The air blockade ends the day the bombing ends, and the choice sits in Riyadh.
Pro-establishment narrative
Firing missiles into a passenger terminal packed with travelers from a dozen countries is terrorism, and no grievance makes that acceptable. Threatening every airline that flies near the kingdom holds civilian aviation hostage, which is why the missile network has to be dismantled. Safe skies return only when the attacks on civilians stop.