The King Khalid Airport in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, has cancelled all flights after a new explosion was reported at the facility.


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  • Maeve@kbin.earth
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    All flights to and from the main airport in the Saudi capital of Riyadh have been cancelled following an explosion believed to be the result of a new attack by Yemen’s armed forces. The explosion, reported on Saturday afternoon at King Khalid Airport, caused authorities to immediately evacuate travelers from the airport, while ambulances were seen rushing to the facility. Multiple people were wounded in the blast. At least 225 flights at the airport had been canceled over the past 24 hours, according to flight-tracking site FlightAware. The explosion came amid continued attacks by Yemeni forces on Saudi Arabia in retaliation for an extensive military aggression by the kingdom and its mercenary forces inside Yemen against the impoverished country’s infrastructure. The Yemenis had carried out missile attacks on King Khalid Airport earlier this week, killing four people, injuring others, and inflicting major damage on an aircraft. Saudi Arabia has sought to downplay the attacks on the airport, which have caused major international airlines to cancel their flights to the aviation hub for the weeks to come. Yemen warns airlines to stay away from Saudi airports as attacks disrupt air traffic Related Story Yemen warns airlines to stay away from Saudi airports as attacks disrupt air traffic The Reuters news agency said Etihad Airways and Qatar Airways, two regional carriers that had resisted flight cancellations to and from the airport in Riyadh, decided after the attack on Saturday to announce cancellations lasting until Monday. Ansarullah has declared the airport and the rest of Saudi airspace a zone of military operations, urging airlines to avoid them indefinitely. The Yemeni armed forces have yet to issue an official statement on the latest attack. The escalation is the latest in a renewed confrontation between Yemen and Saudi Arabia, which began in July after Saudi Arabia bombarded areas around the main airport in the Yemeni capital, Sana’a. The attacks caused Yemen to announce a new phase of counter-operations to break a decade-long crippling economic siege imposed by Saudi Arabia on the country. The Yemenis have carried out extensive drone and missile attacks on energy infrastructure in Saudi Arabia while advancing to areas near the Strait of Bab el-Mandeb in the Red Sea in an attempt to restrict the kingdom’s access to the waterway for oil exports.