RIYADH: Saudi Arabia said it was facing a new barrage of incoming fire on Monday and that Riyadh Airport would remain shut for now, days after Saturday's deadly missile strike on a departure terminal that was claimed by Yemen's Ansar Allah. Incoming drones and missiles were reported by the Saudi-led coalition backing government forces in Yemen, though there was no immediate news of whether they were intercepted.
The Ansar Allah group has been attacking Saudi airports and oil facilities since last week as part of a rapidly escalating conflict that has spilled over from the wider regional conflagration between the United States and Iran. Those attacks have shut down parts of Saudi airspace, suspending operations at Riyadh airport, and largely emptying the skies over the capital even as the city hosts a major energy conference.
Saudi Arabia now faces a predicament, having re-entered Yemen's war to push the group from the vital Bab el-Mandeb Strait oil route and stop the group making further gains after its sudden advances in September. With the Yemeni forces Riyadh supports having made some gains against the Ansar Allah group around Bab el-Mandeb but still on the back foot on other fronts, Yemeni military sources said, any pressure on the group could take time to pay off.
Operations at King Khalid International Airport, Saudi Arabia's second-busiest airport after Jeddah, were suspended to "allow for the completion of procedures to ensure the safety and operational readiness of the airport's facilities", the Saudi civil aviation authority said in a statement.
The airport has been shut since an attack on Saturday that killed 13 people and wounded more than 300, the deadliest in the kingdom in more than a decade. On Sunday, another attack killed one person and injured nearly a dozen others.
Meanwhile, Iran offered to mediate between its Ansar Allah allies and the kingdom. "We have repeatedly expressed our readiness to help facilitate dialogue between the parties," foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said on Monday. Despite intensified Saudi air strikes against the group, including what Yemeni television said were hits on al Jawf province on Monday, the Ansar Allah group shows no sign of letting up their own barrage of attacks on Saudi infrastructure. The group has repeatedly threatened to target airports and airspace, as well as Saudi oil installations that provide the engine for the kingdom's economy and its ambitious development plans.
Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman said at Monday's conference that the kingdom would stay focused on bringing in investment as part of its wider economic development goals. "The development of our energy system and industrial capability continues," he said.
Saudi Arabia's neighbour the United Arab Emirates on Monday called for a revival of joint Gulf action on security and defence in response to the attacks. UAE presidential adviser Anwar Gargash said the targeting of Saudi Arabia undermined the security of all Gulf states and added that the neglect of collective Gulf security had "emboldened others" to overreach against regional states. Saudi Arabia and the UAE had been partners in the Yemen conflict for years, but they backed different forces within the Yemeni military coalition supporting the government and fell out last winter. — Reuters
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