Saudi Arabia Investigates Air Defence Failure After Deadly Iran-Backed Houthi Missile Attack Leaves Riyadh Airport Closed
Saudi Arabia has opened an investigation into how its air defences failed to stop a barrage of Houthi missiles and drones that struck King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh, killing at least 13 people and wounding more than 300, according to two regional officials who spoke on Monday. The inquiry is meant to establish why the systems did not intercept the weapons and why they gave so little early warning. The missiles and drones travelled more than 1,000 kilometres from Yemen to reach the capital.
The investigation is the clearest sign yet that the attacks have exposed a gap in the kingdom’s protection. Saudi officials have not publicly commented on the inquiry. The government’s Center for International Communication, which oversees foreign media, did not respond to requests from reporters. Casualty counts also differ slightly between sources. The Houthi military spokesman put the dead from the airport strike at 12, including four Saudi nationals, with 309 injured, while Associated Press reporting cited the higher figure of at least 13.
The attack on the airport on Saturday was the worst in a run of strikes that began earlier in the week. Saudi officials said Houthi-claimed attacks on the airports in Riyadh and Abha on Wednesday killed three people. A day later a blast at the Riyadh airport and a strike on a Saudia aircraft led to hundreds of cancelled flights, and the civil aviation authority said three Saudi citizens, including a pilot, had died. After Saturday’s missile hit a passenger terminal, a projectile struck the same airport complex again on Sunday, this time near the domestic terminals. Authorities reported further injuries. On Monday the Houthis said they had fired again at the Riyadh airport and at an air base in Khamis Mushait. The Saudi-led coalition said it destroyed a ballistic missile aimed at the capital, and civil defence officials said the danger had passed after at least three explosions were heard at night.
Riyadh’s main airport has now been shut for days. Reports say it will stay closed until October 17. Employees in the capital’s financial district were told to work from home on Monday. Flight-tracking data showed aircraft steering clear of Riyadh while jets continued to land at Jeddah on the western coast. The Houthis have warned airlines, workers and travellers to avoid Saudi airports and airspace, which they describe as a theatre of military operations. The warning matters even to carriers that can technically fly, because insurers and crews make their own judgments about risk. The General Authority of Civil Aviation is the body that has been issuing the kingdom’s official statements on the aviation side of the crisis.
The reaction among airlines was quick. Air India suspended Riyadh operations for several days, the Lufthansa Group said its airlines would stop flying to the city for about a week, and Pakistan International Airlines also paused service. At least 124 flights to and from Riyadh were cancelled on Friday alone, after hundreds more the day before, according to FlightAware. Kuwait and Pakistan were among Saudi Arabia’s allies that condemned the attacks.
The strikes land in a country that is trying to project stability. Riyadh has spent years positioning itself as a regional hub for travel, business and investment, and the attacks hit that effort in the one place visitors are most likely to see it. They also came as the capital prepared to host the WPC Energy Congress, a major meeting of oil ministers and industry executives. Speaking at the congress on Monday, Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman said the events of recent weeks were serious and that the response must be equally serious.
Oil markets are the other pressure point. The fighting is part of a wider Middle East conflict that began more than seven months ago, when the United States and Israel launched their war against Iran. That war has kept crude prices and financial markets volatile. In late September, Brent futures settled above $106.50 a barrel after the Houthis claimed attacks on Saudi facilities, including Aramco sites in Yanbu, and a Sparta Commodities analyst told Al Jazeera that prices were likely to stay above $100 while the Iran war continued. Saudi Arabia is the world’s top oil exporter, and Aramco supplies roughly a tenth of global demand, so any sustained threat to its network is priced quickly. Reports earlier this autumn also described disruptions to the East-West pipeline, which lets Saudi crude reach Red Sea ports without passing through the Strait of Hormuz.
That is why the investigation matters beyond the military sphere. If Saudi defences struggled against a mix of ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and drones, the concern for traders is not only the airport. It is whether processing plants, storage tanks and export terminals could face the same combination. Analysts quoted by Gulf News point out that even sophisticated networks cannot guarantee protection against coordinated multi-weapon strikes. They also note the Houthis, once seen mainly as a guerrilla force, now field more advanced capabilities, which many observers link to long-standing accusations that Iran supplies the group with components and training. Tehran has not accepted that characterization in the reports reviewed here. Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman said Tehran was severely concerned by developments in the Arabian Peninsula, and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi spoke by phone with his Saudi counterpart on Sunday, though no details were given.
Washington’s role is under scrutiny. According to AP, the United States has provided intelligence sharing, target identification and planning support for a Saudi-led offensive against the Houthis, but so far has held off on carrying out strikes itself. Riyadh would like a more direct American role in countering the attacks. Houthi officials, meanwhile, said Saudi strikes hit the Yemeni capital of Sanaa on Monday, killing one person and wounding 12. Those claims have not been independently verified here. The exchange suggests the conflict is widening rather than winding down, and the Saudi-led blockade that has isolated Houthi-held areas for years adds to the anger on the Yemeni side.
The next few days will test several things at once. The first is how long Riyadh airport stays shut and whether international carriers return when it reopens, because a short closure is an inconvenience and a long one reshapes business travel into and out of the country. The second is what the investigation finds, and whether Saudi Arabia chooses to disclose any of it. Findings about radar coverage, interceptor stocks or command delays would shape both defence spending and allied support. The third is the oil price reaction if attacks spread from airports to energy sites, as the Houthis have already claimed. For now the available facts are limited and still changing, and officials on every side have an interest in how events are described. What is clear is that a civilian airport in a capital city was hit repeatedly, dozens of families are grieving, and the world’s largest oil exporter is asking how it happened. More coverage of how conflict is moving energy and travel markets is available at Innovation Times.
