Houthis Strike Riyadh Airport Again; Trump Weighs Joining Saudi Fight — SkimNews
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- Houthis struck Riyadh's King Khalid International Airport for the second time in a week, with a missile hitting the terminals 3 and 4 complex for domestic flights and wounding many people, according to a regional official.
- Trump said he was evaluating U.S. intervention in Saudi strikes against the Houthis, telling reporters: "We may. We're going to look at it. We move very quickly."
- Houthi attacks earlier in the week on the same airport killed three Saudis, including a pilot, and two regional officials said Thursday's strikes damaged three planes.
- Saudi Arabia is running low on missile interceptors and has asked France, Britain, Pakistan and Egypt to deploy air defense support, with U.S. interceptor stocks also depleted during the war with Iran.
- Saudi civil aviation authorities suspended all Riyadh airport operations through midnight, and at least 291 flights were canceled in the prior 24 hours per FlightAware, prompting airlines including Air India, Lufthansa Group and Pakistan International Airlines to suspend routes.
- U.S. assistance to Saudi Arabia so far has included intelligence sharing, target identification and planning for the latest offensive against the Houthis, officials said.
Why it matters: Saudi Arabia's dwindling interceptor supply and explicit requests for allied air defense deployment show the kingdom can no longer shield its own infrastructure alone — and the Houthis' new positioning along the Red Sea now threatens the shipping corridor that serves as an alternative to the Strait of Hormuz, where Iran is also attacking vessels.
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