CAIRO (AP) — Three Saudi citizens were killed, including a captain with the national airline, and several other people “of different nationalities” were wounded Thursday in attacks targeting Riyadh's King Khalid International Airport and a Saudia Airlines aircraft, the kingdom's civil aviation authority said Friday.
It marked the deadliest attack in Saudi Arabia since it and allied forces in neighboring Yemen launched a major military offensive last weekend against the Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen.
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Thursday's first attack targeted airport facilities, while the second struck the aircraft, the statement said. It did not identify those responsible, though the Houthis claimed to have targeted the airport with a ballistic missile.
Among the dead was Capt. Hamoud Ali Alkalthami, the Saudia Group said in a statement. It appeared to be the first confirmed attack on the Saudi national carrier since the new offensive began. A separate Saudia Group statement said one of its aircraft was damaged while it was on the ground and with no passengers on board.
The airport in the Saudi capital has come under multiple attacks in recent days, with a Sudanese national killed there earlier this week.
Friday's aviation statement on injuries to citizens and people of other nationalities "ranged from minor to serious.”
The Saudia Group statement indicated that operational activities at the airport returned to normal as of 6 p.m. Thursday, hours after the attack.
Meanwhile, the Saudi-led coalition fighting the Houthis said it had destroyed three rocket launch platforms used by the Houthis to threaten regional security.
