Airport Smoke
Saudi Arabia issues its first Riyadh air raid alerts in months as smoke rises near the capital's main airport.
Black smoke rose over Riyadh's King Khalid International Airport on Saturday. Saudi Arabia had issued its first air raid alerts for the capital since fighting with Yemen's Houthi rebels escalated in July.
Firefighters battled flames at a burning fuel tank bearing the logo of state oil company Aramco near the airport, BBC News and the Guardian reported. FlightRadar24 listed the airport under its maximum disruption index. Hours of delays and cancellations followed, according to BBC News.
Overnight, Saudi Arabia's civil defense force sent phone alerts warning of danger in Riyadh, Jeddah and the industrial port city of Yanbu, home to major oil facilities, the Guardian reported. Independent said alerts also covered the city of Al-Kharj. An all-clear came Saturday morning, though officials told residents to avoid crowds.
Explosions followed the alert, residents said. "I heard the alarm, then my windows shook," a 27-year-old northern Riyadh resident told BBC News. Another resident told the Guardian, "In the direction of the airport, we saw black smoke and fire."
Weeks of rising violence preceded the smoke. Houthi forces have attacked Saudi targets and claimed responsibility for downing a Saudi fighter jet, BBC News reported. This month, the Houthis seized the port of Mokha and Perim Island in the Bab al-Mandab strait, a chokepoint for oil shipments, CNBC reported. The UN Security Council condemned the Houthi attacks Friday, citing damage to civilian and energy infrastructure, and called on member states to enforce an arms embargo against the group, the Guardian reported. Nearly 105,000 people have been displaced by the fighting, the International Organization for Migration said Wednesday, according to the Guardian.
Houthi military spokesman Yahya al-Sarea said the group had thwarted Saudi attacks on Sanaa. The strikes, he warned, would "not go unanswered," BBC News reported.
Riyadh is also working to secure US military backing. The Trump administration approved a potential $24.3 billion sale of 48 F-35 jets to the kingdom last week, CNBC reported. Saudi Arabia has rerouted oil exports through its East-West pipeline after a drone attack it blamed on Iraq forced a shutdown, CNBC reported. Brent crude traded near $103.87 a barrel Friday, up 72% since the start of the year, according to CNBC.
No official comment. Saudi authorities had not addressed the cause of the fire by Saturday, BBC News reported.