Flights resume at Riyadh airport after two-week closure as Houthis attack Saudi Arabia

Flights resumed at Riyadh’s international airport on Sunday following a series of deadly attacks on the facility that saw it closed for two weeks , even as Yemen’s Houthi rebels targeted the country with strikes. King Khalid International Airport’s website showed several domestic and international flights scheduled on Sunday, including arrivals to the kingdom from Dubai, Paris and Cairo. The renewed operations at the airport came as explosions rattled Riyadh early Sunday, after a text message was sent to residents warning of a hostile threat targeting the city. Alerts warning of possible attacks were activated across the kingdom’s south throughout the day, with the Saudi-led military coalition fighting the Houthis saying at least 10 ballistic missiles were intercepted.

Saudi officials did not provide additional information when asked by AFP about the scope of the renewed operations at the airport. But the tracking website Flightradar24 showed a small number of flights had departed, though the vast majority were cancelled. Saudi Arabia, which leads a military coalition fighting the Houthis, has faced a barrage of strikes from the group in recent weeks. The fighting erupted after a years-long truce between the Houthis and Yemen’s government fell apart. The Houthi fighters have carried out waves of strikes on the airport, including an attack this month that killed 13 people and wounded more than 300, the deadliest in the kingdom in more than a decade. The group has also targeted oil infrastructure and other sites. Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree earlier warned that Riyadh airport was still “unsafe” and a “military target”. “The Yemeni Armed Forces warn all international, regional and local airlines — as well as staff and travellers — against using King Khalid…