RIYADH/DUBAI Oct 8: Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis escalated their campaign of strikes against Saudi Arabia on Thursday, trying to shut down the kingdom’s airspace and oil facilities with missile fire that has killed three people this week.
The group said it had struck Riyadh airport, where witnesses saw smoke billowing from a plane, and it warned workers to stay away from energy plants. Saudi officials said debris from an intercepted missile had hit a kindergarten and medical complex.
The Houthis say they are targeting the kingdom over its support for government forces in Yemen’s reignited civil war. Saudi Arabia says it is backing an offensive by Yemen’s UN-recognised government to take back territory from the Houthis.
The conflict, now an overspill of the US-Iran war, has added new chaos to a region already aflame, and threatens to draw other states into gruelling mountain fighting – with Syria now considering deploying troops to assist Saudi Arabia.
The kingdom has pushed for support from allied nations even if only in a logistical or defensive capacity, as it tries to reverse Houthi gains in southwest Yemen, by the southern entrance to the Red Sea.
Those requests have taken on more urgency since Saudi authorities said on Wednesday that three people had been killed this week in strikes on Riyadh airport and Abha airport in the southwest.
The Houthis have made Saudi airports a major focus of their strikes, and the Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen said it had destroyed two ballistic missiles launched by the group towards Riyadh and another towards Khamis Mushayt, home to a major airbase.
The smoke at Riyadh airport on Thursday was rising from a stationary aircraft that was believed to be empty, three people briefed on the matter said. The fire had since been put out, they said.
There was no immediate confirmation from Saudi authorities on the Houthi claims of ballistic missile attacks on Riyadh airport and the cause of the smoke billowing from the plane was not immediately clear.
OFFICIALS SAY SYRIAN AID MIGHT BE PURELY DEFENSIVE
One US and one Syrian defence official said Syria was carefully considering options for military support, including defensive aid to protect Saudi Arabia from attacks, or an offensive deployment to help take the fight to the Houthis.
In response to a request for comment to the Syrian foreign ministry, a diplomat said Syria stood firmly with Saudi Arabia but that its focus was on domestic priorities such as recovery from its own civil war.
NATO-member Turkey said on Wednesday it was sending mainly defensive and technical support to the kingdom to help in the fight against the Houthis. A Turkish official said this was expected to take the form of military equipment, intelligence sharing and weapons systems.
