RIYADH: A large plume of black smoke and flames was visible near Riyadh’s international airport on Saturday after Saudi civil defence authorities issued an all-clear following overnight alerts warning of potential aerial attacks on the capital.The smoke was seen billowing near King Khalid International Airport, where firefighters were called to tackle a blaze at a fuel tank bearing the logo of the state oil giant Aramco, at a depot close to the runways.
Flight-tracking data from FlightRadar24showed the airport briefly registering the platform’s highest disruption rating before operations returned to normal.
Residents describedexplosions echoing across parts of the city in the hours before the all-clear sounded. ‘In the direction of the airport, we saw black smoke and fire,’ said one.
A 27-year-old resident in the city’s north said the blast had rattled the windows of her home. ‘It was definitely scary,’ she said. ‘I was not expecting this.
There was no immediate comment from the Saudi government, and no official claim of responsibility was made for any attacks Saturday.
The scare in the capital came as Saudi-backed government forces and Houthifighters clashed in southern Yemen, in fighting that has left close to 50 people dead within a day.
Military sources on both sides said 17 government soldiers and 31 Houthi fighters were killed in the space of 24 hours.
The Houthis have pressed a rapid offensive in recent weeks, seizing large stretches of territory and leaving the internationally recognised government struggling to mount a response.
Earlier this month the group took full control of Yemen’s Red Sea coastline, putting it in command of the strategically vital Bab el-Mandeb Strait.
Saudi Arabia has answered with dozens of airstrikes against Houthiheld territory, though the campaignhas done little to halt the group’s advance.
The Houthis said on Friday that Saudi jets had carried out 26 strikes against their positions in the previous 24 hours alone, bringing the week’s total to 300.
A Houthi military spokesperson, Yahya Saree, said separately that the group had foiled unspecified plots in the Yemeni capital, Sana’a, which it blamed on Riyadh, vowing retaliation.
The kingdom had already accused the Houthis of a ‘cowardly terrorist attack’ after alleging the group targeted Makkah on Wednesday a claim the Houthis rejected as fabricated.
Analysts said the exchange marked a dangerous new phase in a conflict that both sides ultimately know cannot be resolved by force alone. ‘My read is that Saudi Arabia isenteringintoaphase ofescalation with the Houthis and will respond, but they know the only way this ends is through negotiations,’ said Anna Jacobs of the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington.
‘But both sides have a say in when that can happen, and both sides seem locked in the escalation trap at this stage.
Saturday’s incident is the first time the Saudi capital itself has come under direct threat sinceYemen’s civil war reignited, adding a further shock to a global economy already strained by nearly seven months of war between the United States and Iran.
The Houthi seizure of Yemen’s coastline has stoked international alarm over maritime security, compounding disruption from Iran’s blockade of the Strait of Hormuz though the Houthis maintain that only vessels linked to Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest crude exporter, face anythreatinthe sealane.
Meanwhile, the US State Department approved a $24.3bn sale of 48 F-35 fighter jets to Saudi Arabia. It reportedly declined a separate Saudi request last week to strike Houthi positions directly.
Earlier on Friday, the UN Security Council strongly condemned continued Houthi attacks against Saudi Arabia, including strikes affecting civilian and energy infrastructure that have caused civilian casualties, including women and children.
The UNSC also condemned the Houthi military escalation in Yemen and attacks and threats against commercial shipping in the Red Sea and Bab al Mandeb. The council called for an immediate end to the Houthi military escalation and attacks affecting civilians and civilian objeets.-Agencies