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RIYADH\/DUBAI Oct 8:\u00a0 Yemen\u2019s Iran-aligned Houthis \u200bescalated their campaign of strikes against Saudi Arabia on Thursday, trying to shut down the kingdom\u2019s airspace and oil facilities with missile fire that has killed three people this \u200cweek.<\/strong><\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n The Houthis say they are targeting the kingdom over its support for government forces in Yemen\u2019s reignited civil war. Saudi Arabia says it is backing an offensive by Yemen\u2019s UN-recognised government to take back territory from the Houthis.<\/p>\n The conflict, now an overspill \u200bof the US-Iran war, has added new chaos to a region already aflame, and threatens to draw other states into gruelling mountain fighting \u2013 with Syria now considering deploying troops to assist Saudi Arabia.<\/p>\n The kingdom \u200bhas pushed for support from allied nations even if only in a logistical or defensive capacity, as it tries to reverse Houthi gains \u2060in southwest Yemen, by the southern entrance to the Red Sea.<\/p>\n 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 \u200band Abha airport in the southwest.<\/p>\n 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 \u200bmissiles launched by the group towards Riyadh and another towards Khamis Mushayt, home to a major airbase.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n 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 \u200bimmediately clear.<\/p>\n OFFICIALS SAY SYRIAN AID MIGHT BE PURELY DEFENSIVE<\/strong><\/p>\n 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 \u2060an offensive deployment \u200bto help take the fight to the Houthis.<\/p>\n In response to a request for comment to the Syrian foreign ministry, a diplomat \u200bsaid Syria stood firmly with Saudi Arabia but that its focus was on domestic priorities such as recovery from its own civil war.<\/p>\n NATO-member Turkey said on Wednesday it was sending mainly defensive and technical support to the kingdom to help in the fight against \u200bthe Houthis. A Turkish official said this was expected to take the form of military equipment, intelligence sharing and weapons systems.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n