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An attack on King Khalid International Airport in Saudi Arabia’s capital injured several people and forced authorities to suspend operations on October 10, as separate reports emerged of a possible strike on a major oil and gas facility in the kingdom’s eastern oil-producing region.

Saudi Arabia’s civil aviation authority said operations at the Riyadh airport had been suspended while officials assessed the damage and verified the safety of the facility.

Meanwhile, a regional official told The Associated Press that a missile struck the complex housing Terminals 3 and 4, which serve domestic flights.

Witnesses reported an explosion inside the airport and injured people on the ground. More than a dozen ambulances were seen rushing to the facility, Reuters reported. A traveler told the news agency that something had flown across the sky before part of the ceiling near a departure gate collapsed.

The official casualty toll remained unclear. Saudi authorities said they were assessing the number of injured, while a source at a Riyadh hospital told AFP that dozens of people had been wounded, including at least five who were being treated in intensive care.

The suspension disrupted air travel across the kingdom. Flight-tracking services showed flights to Riyadh being canceled or diverted, while Kuwait Airways, Etihad Airways and Qatar Airways canceled services to the Saudi capital.

The airport had already been targeted twice earlier in the week in attacks that killed four people and destroyed a Saudi airliner.

Yemen’s Houthis, also known as Ansar Allah, have claimed responsibility for previous strikes on Saudi airports and other infrastructure but had not immediately commented on the latest incident.

The airport attack came amid reports of a possible strike on the Shedgum gas-processing plant in the Ghawar oil-field complex in eastern Saudi Arabia. The reports described smoke rising from the facility after an alleged missile attack.

The Israeli news outlet JFeed reported that the plant had been hit by ballistic missiles, citing satellite imagery and a reported spike in thermal activity. The open-source monitoring site Hamer Intel also reported smoke over the area following the suspected attack.

Despite these reports, Saudi authorities and state oil company Saudi Aramco have not yet publicly confirmed an attack on Shedgum.

Ghawar is one of the world’s largest conventional oil fields and a central part of Saudi Arabia’s petroleum industry. Shedgum is a gas-processing facility associated with the field, meaning damage there would not by itself establish that oil production across Ghawar had been interrupted.

The attacks came as fighting intensified between Saudi-backed Yemeni government forces and the Houthis, who have expanded their missile and drone campaign against Saudi targets in recent days.

The group warned international airlines to avoid Saudi airspace, describing it as a zone of military operations, after Saudi-backed forces launched an offensive to regain territory along Yemen’s Red Sea coast.

U.S. President Donald Trump said after the attack on King Khalid International Airport that Washington was considering whether to join Saudi military action against the Houthis.

“We may. We’re going to look at it,” he told reporters, according to Reuters.

Overall, Saudi Arabia appears to be defenseless in the face of the Houthis, who have succeeded to a large extent in restricting aviation over the kingdom. Despite Trump’s latest remarks, the U.S. is unlikely to take a more direct role against the group, as its forces in the region remain focused on Iran. Still, the U.S. could carry out a one-off attack to show support for Riyadh. This could, however, trigger an even harsher response by the Houthis.

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Yemen’s Houthis (Ansar Allah) are disrupting Saudi Arabia’s efforts to attract international investors and energy executives, with attacks on the kingdom’s airports and explicit threats against commercial aviation prompting airlines and businesses to reconsider travel ahead of two major conferences in Riyadh, the Financial Times reported on October 10.

The World Petroleum Council Energy Congress is scheduled to take place from October 11 to 15, followed by the Future Investment Initiative, known as “Davos in the Desert,” from October 26 to 29.

The gatherings are important showcases for Saudi Arabia’s efforts to attract foreign capital and establish itself as a global destination for business, tourism and investment under Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s Vision 2030 economic diversification program.

The Financial Times reported that companies are reconsidering the number of employees they will send to the events, with some exploring alternatives to air travel and others considering remote participation.

Italy’s energy minister has abandoned plans to attend the energy congress in person and will participate virtually. Organizers intend to proceed with the events, but the difficulties facing international participants have raised questions about attendance, particularly at the larger investment conference later this month.

The disruption follows an explicit warning from the Houthis, whose military spokesman, Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree, declared on October 8 that Saudi airspace had become a theater of military operations and issued what he described as a final warning to international airlines to stop flying into the kingdom.

Notably, the warning exempted airspace over the Islamic holy cities of Mecca and Medina, according to the group’s statement.

The Houthis have claimed responsibility for a series of missile attacks on Saudi airports in recent days. On October 9, Saudi aviation authorities confirmed that two attacks on King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh had killed three Saudi nationals and wounded several other people. A Saudia Airlines plane was also destroyed. Other aircraft were reportedly damaged.

The latest casualties brought the reported death toll from the recent airport attacks to six, including victims of earlier strikes on Riyadh and Abha.

The aviation threat has already produced consequences beyond the immediate damage. On October 9, the European Union Aviation Safety Agency expanded its advisory against operating in Saudi airspace, adding an area in the kingdom’s northwest after concluding that the recent attacks demonstrated the Houthis’ ability and intent to strike deeper inside Saudi territory.

The aviation risk-sharing organization OPSGROUP separately advised its members to avoid operations in Saudi Arabia, including using Saudi airports as alternative destinations during flights.

Airlines have responded with cancellations and suspensions affecting Riyadh and other Saudi cities. Lufthansa Group and several Indian carriers announced suspensions of flights to Riyadh, while Etihad Airways canceled services and flydubai extended cancellations affecting Riyadh, Yanbu and Abha.

Flight-tracking data showed 131 cancellations to and from Riyadh by early afternoon on October 9, following hundreds of cancellations the previous day, Reuters reported.

For Saudi Arabia, the implications reach beyond the immediate problems facing conference organizers. The kingdom has invested heavily in attracting international companies, financial institutions and visitors as it seeks to diversify its economy away from oil revenues.

The energy congress and the Future Investment Initiative offer opportunities to draw senior executives to Riyadh, cultivate investment commitments and demonstrate that the country can host major international gatherings.

The Houthi campaign is now testing that effort through both physical attacks and the threat of further strikes. Even without additional damage to airport infrastructure, warnings that commercial aircraft could be targeted give airlines and corporate security departments a reason to reconsider routes, staff deployments and attendance.

With the energy congress beginning on October 11 and the investment conference approaching later in the month, Saudi organizers face the immediate challenge of keeping international participants coming while the threat to aviation remains active.

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SouthFront: Analysis and Intelligence

NOW hosted at southfront.press

Previously, SouthFront: Analysis and Intelligence was at southfront.org.

The .org domain name had been blocked by the US (NATO) (https://southfront.press/southfront-org-blocked-by-u-s-controlled-global-internet-supervisor/) globally, outlawed and without any explanation

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