Saudi Arabia vows retaliation after deadly Houthi airport strikes

Saudi Arabia has vowed to respond to a series of deadly airport attacks conducted by Iran-backed Houthi rebels over the weekend, according to CBS News. New Straits Times reports that several powerful explosions occurred in the capital of Riyadh on Monday night, following recent strikes at the Riyadh airport that have killed at least 18 people.

In response to the attacks, Saudi warplanes carried out airstrikes on multiple locations across Yemen early Tuesday, including the Harf Sufyan district, Kamaran island, and the al-Qanawis district, according to Houthi media reported by Middle East Eye.

Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman stated at a conference in Riyadh that energy security cannot be taken for granted and that the kingdom's infrastructure and resilience have been tested. Semafor noted that the back-to-back strikes on the airport threaten the kingdom's economic ambitions, as the main airport has closed and some governments have advised against traveling to the area.

Additionally, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk condemned the repeated attacks on airports, noting that attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure are prohibited under international humanitarian law, as reported by Saudi Gazette.

Brief written by urgent.news from CBS News, New Straits Times, Semafor, Middle East Eye, Saudi Gazette — 5 reports on this story. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.