New Houthi attack on Riyadh: airport closed, one dead and ban on circulating images

Yemen’s Houthi rebels have carried out a new attack against strategic targets in Saudi Arabia, striking facilities belonging to the Aramco oil group and Riyadh’s King Khalid International Airport. This is reported by Il Fatto Quotidiano, according to which the pro-Iranian militia has already announced its intention to continue operations in the coming days.

The action was claimed by the Houthi military spokesman, Yahya Saree, who identified the targets as an Aramco site in Dhahran, the capital’s airport and a refinery belonging to the same company in Riyadh. Saree described a wide-ranging military operation and suggested that others would follow, confirming the Yemeni group’s strategy of repeatedly striking Saudi energy and logistics infrastructure.

The most up-to-date toll comes from Adnkronos, which cites the Saudi General Authority of Civil Aviation: the attack on King Khalid airport killed a Pakistani national resident in the country, and eleven other people were injured. Given the severity of the episode, the same authority ordered an extension of the suspension of airport operations, necessary to complete security checks on the structures that were hit.

At the same time, the government in Riyadh announced that circulating videos and images related to the attack constitutes a crime, a measure that limits the flow of independent information on the extent of the damage precisely during the hours in which casualties are being counted and the scope of the operation is being assessed. The ban falls within a line already followed by the Saudi kingdom during previous Houthi attacks, aimed at containing the internal and external media impact of actions striking symbols of national security such as the capital’s airport and the facilities of the country’s leading oil producer.

The attack confirms the Houthis’ persistent operational capacity to strike deep into Saudi territory despite years of conflict and attempts at international mediation. Aramco, a listed energy giant and pillar of the Saudi economy, remains a recurring target for the Yemeni militia, which has already directed drone and missile attacks against it in the past. The choice to simultaneously strike a production site and the capital’s main airport signals an escalation in intensity compared with isolated actions against single pieces of infrastructure.

The actual extent of the damage to Aramco’s facilities remains to be verified, as neither the company nor the Saudi government has so far provided detailed figures. The suspension of flights at King Khalid, not yet lifted, prolongs disruption for passengers and keeps international attention high on a front of the Yemeni conflict that, years after it began, continues to produce civilian casualties and strike critical infrastructure in the Gulf region.