Saudi Minister Promises "Serious Response" to Houthi Attacks on Airports
The attack follows an assault by the armed group on Riyadh International Airport and another facility, which killed 13 people amid a sharp escalation of tensions.
Saudi Arabia's energy minister has promised to give a "serious" response to Yemen's deadly Houthi attacks on airports and oil and gas facilities in the country.
"The events of recent weeks are serious. Our response must be equally serious," Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman told the WPC Energy Congress in Riyadh.
Saudi authorities announced that a Pakistani man was killed in an attack on a terminal in the capital's King Khalid International Airport on Sunday. This happened a day after a Houthi missile hit another terminal, killing 13 people and shutting it down.
The Houthis said they carried out these attacks in retaliation for "barbaric Saudi aggression" on areas under their control in western Yemen.
The Ministry of Health of the Houthis announced that a child was killed and six others were injured in an airstrike by Saudi Arabia on a house in Sana'a, the capital.
The Saudi-led coalition is providing air support to pro-government Yemeni forces fighting the Houthis on the Red Sea coast and elsewhere.
In the second Houthi attack on Riyadh airport in the last two days, one person was killed and 11 injured
Riyadh airport strikes at another dangerous moment in the tense conflict
Who are the Houthis and what do they want?
Yemen has been devastated by a civil war that began in 2014, when the Houthis overthrew the government in Sanaa. The conflicts escalated in 2015 after the Saudi-led coalition intervened in an attempt to restore the situation.
An unofficial four-year ceasefire began in July, when the Houthis declared a "maritime embargo" on Saudi Arabia and launched missile and drone attacks on Saudi airports, oil facilities and tankers in the Red Sea.
The Houthis said they were retaliating for Saudi Arabia's blockade of ports and airports in their territory, as well as an airstrike on Sana'a airport, which they blamed on the kingdom. The Yemeni government claimed that it was behind this attack and said that it was trying to prevent the landing of an unauthorized Iranian plane.
Last month, the Houthis launched a surprise offensive along Yemen's southwestern Red Sea coast, driving pro-government forces from areas overlooking the Bab al-Mandab Strait at the southern end of the Red Sea.
They said they posed no threat to international ships passing through the waterway, but would continue to target Saudi Arabian ships.
However, the capture of the strait helped boost global oil prices, as Saudi Arabia, which closed the Strait of Hormuz in the Persian Gulf after the US-Israeli war with Iran, relied on the Red Sea for oil exports.
Last week, the Yemeni government announced the beginning of a new offensive with the aim of recapturing all areas under the control of the Houthis.
Pro-government forces said they quickly recaptured areas around Bab al-Mandab with the help of heavy Saudi airstrikes, but the Houthis denied losing any territory.