Saudi airport stays shut as Houthi attacks kill 19 people in a week

The U.S. embassy in Saudi Arabia on Monday urged American citizens to exercise “extreme caution” when using all major airports in the country, following a weekend of strikes that killed a total of 13 people.

“The U.S. Mission is aware of additional attacks on King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh and targeted attack on King Fahd International Airport in Dammam on October 11,” the embassy said in a statement.

“Please take extreme caution when using all major airports in Saudi Arabia,” it added.

The U.S. military disabled a Panama-flagged commercial vessel in the Gulf of Oman Saturday by firing on it with a fighter jet, the U.S. military’s Central Command said.

According to CENTCOM, the fighter jet fired a “precision munition” at  the Ocean Molica, also known as the “Arika Sun,” that disabled the “ship’s propulsion without harming the crew.”

The ship had recently departed an Iranian port. Iran’s ports have been under a U.S. blockade since a ceasefire between the two countries collapsed in July.  

Four commercial vessels have been disabled by U.S. forces and 135 ships have been turned around since the blockade took effect on July 14, CENTCOM said.

During that period, U.S. forces have also destroyed 10 tankers that are believed to be part of a “shadow fleet” that transports sanctioned Iranian oil and petroleum products, CENTCOM said.

A projectile struck a passenger terminal at the international airport in Riyadh on Sunday, a day after a missile hit the same terminal and killed 12 people, the Saudi-led coalition fighting Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen said. The Houthis claimed responsibility for those attacks and others.

Saudi authorities said one person, described as a Pakistani national, was killed, and 11 were injured in the latest attack on the domestic terminal complex at King Khalid International Airport.

The airport – struck four times in the past five days – has been closed since Saturday’s missile attack, which was the deadliest in a Gulf Arab nation since the Iran war began. Over 300 other people were wounded, some critically.

One American citizen was among the victims of Saturday’s strike, the U.S. embassy in Riyadh said.

CBS/AP

President Trump left open the possibility the U.S. will join Saudi Arabia’s battle against the Iran-backed Houthis on Saturday.

“We may. We’re gonna look at it,” Mr. Trump said when asked about the possibility as he left the White House for a campaign rally in Tennessee. “We just found out about the recent attack [on the airport]. So we’ll make a decision– we move very quickly.”

Mr. Trump was also asked about whether the Houthi strike on Riyadh’s airport would change his previously announced decision not to launch any potential strikes on Iran until after the midterms.

“Well, we’re gonna take a look,” he responded.

Multiple people were injured in a strike on Riyadh’s King Khalid International Airport on Saturday. The Houthis have not claimed responsibility for the attack, but Saudi Arabia’s aviation authority said the strike was part of “continued attacks targeting civil aviation facilities in the Kingdom.”