Houthi missile attack on Riyadh airport kills 13

• A Houthi missile attack on Saudi Arabia’s international airport in Riyadh killed at least 13 people, including an Indian national, and injured more than 300 people on October 11.

• The attack on the King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh was the latest of several targeting the airport.

• Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis claimed responsibility for the strike.

• In view of the security situation, the Indian Embassy advised all Indian nationals in Saudi Arabia to remain alert and vigilant, stay indoors as necessary and follow instructions issued by local authorities.

• The advisory came amid an escalation in hostilities involving Saudi Arabia and the Iran-backed Houthis, who have in recent weeks targeted border regions, energy facilities and civilian infrastructure using drones and missiles.

Spillover from US-Iran conflict

• In September, the Houthis swept down Yemen’s Red Sea coast, capturing the port of Mokha and islands in the Bab al-Mandab strait.

• Early in October, the government forces launched a counteroffensive, backed by Saudi-led air strikes, aiming to retake all Houthi-held territory, including Sana’a. 

• The Houthis have answered with missile and drone attacks on Saudi Arabia.

• The battle for Bab al-Mandab, the narrow gateway to the Red Sea, is a spillover from the US-Iran conflict which has destabilised global oil and gas supplies through the vital Strait of Hormuz in the Gulf. 

• With Iran continuing to disrupt the strait, the Red Sea has become vital for Saudi oil exports.

• Saudi officials and the Yemeni government say they have now regained control of the Red Sea chokepoint, but the Houthis have denied the claim.

Red Sea crisis

• The Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden constitute one of the world’s major shipping routes. 

• Strategically connecting Europe and Asia, the Red Sea stretches from the Suez Canal through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait to the Gulf of Aden. 

• Its waters constitute one of the most critical maritime routes enabling global trade but also presenting immense opportunities for development and prosperity in the region. 

• However, increasing regional instability, conflict, piracy and transnational organised crime endanger the freedom of navigation of vessels transiting through those waters and limit investment into port infrastructure and maritime commerce. 

• In the Bab al-Mandab Strait – which connects the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden between Eritrea, Djibouti and Yemen – Iran-backed Houthi militants in Yemen have declared a naval blockade against shipping linked to Saudi Arabia.

• About 12 per cent of seaborne oil trade has historically passed through Bab al-Mandab, and around 20 per cent of the world’s oil supply has historically passed through Hormuz. 

• The current conflicts have triggered global oil price shocks and higher prices.