Riyadh Airport is still closed after Saturday's attack

Athe operations of the international airport of Riyadh remained suspended today, following repeated deadly attacks, said a source of the air sector in the Saudi capital, after the announcement on Saturday night of the temporary closure.

“The Riyadh airport has again suspended activities today. They informed us at the break of the day ", said the source to the French agency AFP.

King Khalid International Airport, located about 35 kilometres north of Riyadh, suffered an attack on Saturday that caused 12 deaths and more than 300 injuries, as well as damage to infrastructure.

The Saudi authorities attributed the attack to the Huthis rebels in Yemen, which are supported by Iran.

A second source of the air sector, which helps to supervise flights in Riyadh, confirmed that AFP would interrupt operations “until further notice”.

“ The information we have indicates that operations are suspended until further order and that some systems have been damaged, radar and communication equipment ", said.

The same source added that the state of the runways at the airport would also have to be assessed.

The Flightradar24 air traffic monitoring portal announced on a social network that “the closure of Riyadh airport was again extended by 24 hours”.

In Saná, Huthis rebel spokesman Yahya Saree has today renewed the appeal to passengers, officials and all airlines not to use Saudi airports, threatening further attacks.

“The Yemeni armed forces renew the warning” against the use “of Saudi airspace” and airports, “because they are exposed to attacks and constitute a theater of operations by our forces,” he said on a social network.

The warning about airports is not valid for the holy cities of Mecca and Medina, clarified the military spokesman for the movement at war against Saudi Arabia, which supports the Yemeni Government.

Saree held Saudi Arabia responsible for “any failed attempt to intercept” the possible attacks and reaffirmed Huthis’ commitment to maintain the strategy announced by the movement.

The strategy is based on the equation “airport by airport, blocking and climbing,” until the rebels achieved their goals, he added, also quoted by the Spanish agency EFE.

The attack was the second one against the Saudi capital airport in 24 hours, after, on Friday, an offensive attributed to the Huthis caused three deaths and damage on a Saudi airline plane.

The Saudi authorities reported on Wednesday that other attacks against Riyadh and Abha airports in the south-west of the kingdom caused three deaths and more than 30 wounded, of various nationalities.

The Huthis claim that attacks on Saudi targets are a response to Saudi Arabia’s bombings against its positions in Yemen, which also include civilian targets such as Sana airport.

Saudi Arabia has intervened militarily in Yemen since 2015, after the Huthis took over the country's capital at the end of 2014.