Houthis Claim Attack on Riyadh Airport, Flights Disrupted
The Facts
- Yemen's Ansar Allah movement, also known as the Houthis, said it struck Riyadh's King Khalid International Airport with a ballistic missile Thursday, disrupting operations, while military spokesman Yahya Saree issued a "final warning" to airlines against using Saudi airspace.
- Shrapnel or another projectile reportedly set at least one parked Saudia Airlines plane ablaze at Riyadh airport Thursday, leaving it heavily damaged, while one source said three aircraft were hit. Several international airlines suspended flights.
- Saudi officials said debris from an intercepted missile damaged a kindergarten and a medical complex in Riyadh, while coalition spokesman Maj. Gen. Turki al-Maliki said forces destroyed two ballistic missiles aimed at Riyadh and one at Khamis Mushait.
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The Spin
Pro-establishment narrative
Firing ballistic missiles at civilian airports and ordering the world's airlines out of Saudi skies is terrorism aimed squarely at innocent civilians. Kindergartens, clinics and parked passenger jets are not legitimate military targets, and foreign workers are among those paying the heaviest price. Backing Riyadh with stronger air defenses and allied military muscle is the only decent response to that kind of threat.
Establishment-critical narrative
A decade of blockade, bombing and the assumption that Yemen could be starved into submission created this mess, and more of the same will only deepen the suffering. Billion-dollar bombing campaigns and decapitation strikes have failed to break the Houthis, so pretending another offensive will succeed is fantasy. Negotiating, however bitter the terms, beats dragging more foreign armies into a war Riyadh cannot win.
