Saudi Arabia’s energy minister, Prince Abdul Aziz bin Salman, has vowed a “serious” response to attacks by Yemen’s Houthi movement on the kingdom’s airports and oil and gas facilities.
“The events of recent weeks are serious. Our response must be equally serious,” he told the WPC Energy Congress in Riyadh on Monday.
The warning followed a series of attacks on Saudi airports that killed several people, including foreign nationals, and disrupted airport operations.
Saudi authorities said a Pakistani resident was killed on Sunday when a projectile struck Terminal 4 at King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh. The attack came a day after a missile hit Terminal 3, killing 13 people and forcing its closure.
Three Saudis, including a pilot for national carrier Saudia, were also killed in two strikes on an airport facility and an aircraft on the ground last Thursday.
The victims of Saturday’s Terminal 3 attack included four other Saudis, two Bangladeshis, and one citizen each from the United States, Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Palestine, Sudan and India.
Saudi Arabia’s General Authority of Civil Aviation said King Fahd International Airport in Dammam was also attacked on Sunday evening, although no casualties were reported.
The Saudi-led coalition later said its forces intercepted a drone in the Eastern Province and a missile launched towards Khamis Mushait in the south-west.
Prince Abdul Aziz spoke as the WPC Energy Congress opened in Riyadh, about 10km from the capital’s airport, which has been attacked four times in a week.
He thanked industry executives and policymakers for attending despite the security threats, assuring them that Saudi Arabia remained committed to their protection.
“You know this country is safe and that we hold your protection at whole heart.”
The minister acknowledged that the attacks had tested the country’s infrastructure and resilience.
“Energy security cannot be taken for granted,” he said, adding that recent developments had tested our infrastructure, our institutions, our people, and our resilience.”
He said Saudi Arabia would overcome the challenges. “We, as Saudis, are fearless, combatant and determined people. We shall prove it to the world that whatever we are going through we will overcome it.”
The Houthis said their attacks were retaliation for what they described as Saudi aggression against areas under their control in western Yemen.
On Sunday evening, Houthi military spokesman Yahya Sarea said the group had launched missiles and drones at airports in Riyadh and Dammam, as well as two oil and gas facilities in the Eastern Province.
Sarea claimed the attacks were in response to 124 Saudi air strikes in Yemen over the previous 24 hours.
He also warned airlines and passengers against using Saudi airports and airspace, except for journeys to and from the Islamic holy cities of Mecca and Medina.
The spokesman said the group would continue attacks inside Saudi Arabia until the strikes against Yemen stopped and what it called the blockade of its people was lifted.
There was no immediate further comment from the Houthis following the energy minister’s warning.
The Houthi-run health ministry said a child was killed and six people injured in a Saudi air strike on a home in Sanaa on Sunday.
A Saudi-led coalition is providing air support to Yemeni government forces fighting the Houthis along the Red Sea coast and in other parts of the country.
Saturday’s attack on Riyadh airport drew international condemnation.
United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres said he was “deeply shocked” and warned that attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure violated international law.
US President Donald Trump said he would “make a decision” on whether the United States would join Saudi Arabia’s strikes against the Houthis. The US military is reportedly already providing intelligence and targeting support to the Saudi-led coalition.
Iran, which has repeatedly denied allegations that it supplies weapons and training to the Houthis, expressed concern about the escalation and called for dialogue to resolve the conflict.
Yemen has been devastated by a civil war that began in 2014, when the Houthis ousted the government from Sanaa. The conflict intensified in 2015 after a Saudi-led coalition intervened to restore the government.
An informal ceasefire that had lasted four years began to unravel in July, when the Houthis announced a “maritime embargo” against Saudi Arabia and launched missile and drone attacks on airports, oil facilities and tankers in the Red Sea.
The Houthis said they were retaliating against what they described as a Saudi blockade of ports and airports in their territory, as well as an air strike on Sanaa airport. Yemen’s government claimed responsibility for that strike, saying it sought to prevent an unauthorised Iranian aircraft from landing.
Last month, the Houthis launched an offensive along Yemen’s south-western Red Sea coast, pushing government forces out of areas overlooking the Bab al-Mandab Strait, at the southern entrance to the Red Sea.
The group said it did not threaten international shipping through the strait but would continue targeting Saudi vessels.
The loss of control around the strategic waterway contributed to rising global oil prices. Saudi Arabia had been relying on the Red Sea to export oil after the US-Israeli war with Iran effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz in the Gulf.
Yemen’s government announced a new offensive last week to retake territory held by the Houthis. Pro-government forces said Saudi air strikes had helped them recover areas around Bab al-Mandab, but the Houthis denied losing territory.
The latest attacks have raised fresh concerns about the security of Saudi energy infrastructure and the risk of further disruption to regional oil supplies. – Agency report.
