CAIRO – Multiple explosions were heard Thursday in Saudi Arabia’s capital, Riyadh, including a powerful blast near the city’s international airport, according to a witness who spoke to The Associated Press. The explosions came a day after Saudi authorities said an attack in the kingdom had killed one person and injured several others.
The source of the latest blasts was not immediately clear, and no group promptly claimed responsibility. Iran-backed Houthi rebels in neighboring Yemen have repeatedly claimed attacks in recent days targeting Saudi airports, military sites and oil facilities.
The explosions quickly rattled financial markets and pushed oil prices higher, with crude recording a sharp jump.
King Khalid International Airport was “closed again,” flight-tracking service Flightradar24 said Thursday in a post on X. The service reported that the last landing had occurred more than 80 minutes earlier, while the most recent departure was over 90 minutes before.
Emergency crews, including firefighters and ambulances, were sent to the scene as smoke rose from the area, the witness said. The person spoke anonymously because they were not authorized to discuss the incident with the media.
Departing flights were suspended, the witness said, while passengers were told to leave their checked luggage behind and evacuate the airport. The extent of the disruption and the number of affected flights remained unclear.
Saudi authorities did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Saudi officials said Wednesday that attacks claimed by the Houthis on two airports had killed three people, as the kingdom became more deeply involved in the latest front of the Iran war. The strike on King Khalid International Airport killed a Sudanese national and injured eight others, officials said. A separate attack on Abha airport killed Moroccan and Algerian residents and wounded 28 people.
The attacks have intensified concerns about Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest oil exporter. Over the weekend, Saudi forces and allied Yemeni troops began a major ground and air campaign to recapture territory seized by the Houthis a month earlier along Yemen’s western Red Sea coast and near the Bab el-Mandeb Strait.
The Houthis’ control of parts of the waterway threatens an important alternative shipping route to the Strait of Hormuz, where maritime traffic has been reduced amid the Iran war.
Maj. Gen. Turki al-Malki, spokesperson for the Saudi-led coalition fighting the Houthis, said Wednesday that coalition forces had destroyed a platform in the rebels’ capital, Sanaa. He said the platform had been used to launch attacks on Riyadh. The Associated Press could not independently verify the claims.
