The Saudi-led coalition says Houthi attacks in October killed 19 people and injured 364, with 17 dead and 330 hurt at King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh.
Two escorts of Prime Minister Shayaa al Zindani were killed when missiles struck the Presidential Palace in Aden on Thursday, 15 October, and the government said he was safe.
The EU has postponed indefinitely its planned October summit with the six-member Gulf Cooperation Council, which would have been the second in that format after 2024.
Coalition spokesman Turki al Maliki said the Houthis have fired 1,104 missiles and a larger number of drones at Saudi Arabia since operations began.
The Saudi-led coalition backing Yemen's internationally recognised government put the death toll from Houthi attacks in October at 19 killed and 364 injured. Spokesman Turki al Maliki gave the figures at a press conference on Thursday, 15 October, saying 17 of the dead and 330 of the injured were at King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh. Earlier reports that morning gave lower tallies of 13, 14 and 18 dead for the Riyadh attacks, and the coalition count is the most recent. Riyadh airport has been closed since Monday, 12 October, after more than twenty Houthi attacks on it since the start of the month. Al Maliki also said the Houthis had fired 1,104 missiles and a larger number of drones at Saudi Arabia since operations began, and that coalition forces have destroyed 127 Houthi depots in mountainous Yemen.
On Thursday, missiles hit the Presidential Palace complex in Aden, the southern port city that has housed Yemen's government since the Houthis seized Sanaa in 2014. Two escorts of Prime Minister Shayaa al Zindani were killed, the Yemeni Ministry of Information said, adding that al Zindani and government members were safe. The Houthis, through their Saba news agency, claimed they had targeted an operations centre run by Saudi officers at the Maasheeq palace and weapons depots there. A military source told EFE on condition of anonymity that four ballistic missiles were fired at the complex, and witnesses reported four loud explosions and columns of smoke. Much of the government's senior leadership is in Riyadh for security reasons. It is the first time the Houthis have hit the palace with ballistic missiles since the new phase of the war began in early September.
The EU and the Gulf Cooperation Council had planned a summit in October, which would have been the second in that format after a 2024 meeting in Brussels. The EU Council announced the postponement in Brussels and said a new date would be communicated in due course. The Council described the partnership as of great strategic importance to both regions and said the EU intends to deepen it. Bulgarian Prime Minister Rumen Radev, speaking in English, said:
“Unfortunately, as far as I know, this meeting in Riyadh will be postponed, maybe for security reasons.”
On Wednesday, 14 October, Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree claimed a 'high-quality military operation' against Aramco in Dhahran, along with strikes on Riyadh airport and a refinery in the capital. A Saudi Ministry of Energy official confirmed that a building belonging to Aramco in Dhahran was hit, causing a limited fire but no casualties. Abha airport in the southwest was also attacked that day, and an Egyptian and an Algerian were killed there. Attacks on Riyadh airport on Wednesday and Thursday had already killed three Saudis, including a pilot, and a Sudanese national. The coalition called the Riyadh airport attack a war crime and promised a powerful response, while its strikes hit Sanaa, the Houthi stronghold in the Yemeni capital.
Forces aligned with Yemen's government said on Thursday they had intercepted a drone heading for Medina and a missile fired toward Riyadh. A ballistic missile was intercepted overnight over Al-Kharj, where Prince Sultan Air Base is located, and the coalition attributed it to the Houthis. The 2022 ceasefire has broken down in recent months, and the Houthis have taken control of large parts of the coast on the Bab al-Mandab strait. The Yemen conflict flared again alongside the Iran war that the US and Israel began at the end of February. World oil prices have risen amid the escalation. Turkey is preparing aid for Saudi Arabia with caution, a step that tests the Mecca Pact, a defence accord linking Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Turkey.
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The Saudi-led coalition puts the October toll from Houthi attacks on Riyadh and Abha airports at 19 dead and 364 injured. The EU has postponed indefinitely a planned summit with Gulf states as the fighting in Yemen spreads.
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