Multiple sites in Riyadh struck, Houthi attacks escalate to deadliest round since conflict began

Explosions were heard at multiple locations across the Saudi capital Riyadh. According to The New York Times, this is the deadliest round of Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia to date in years of cross-border strikes. The day before the explosions, Saudi authorities confirmed that Houthi strikes on two airports inside Saudi Arabia had killed three people. The exact cause of the explosions remained unclear at the time of reporting.

According to The New York Times, the Houthis have in recent days extended their strikes to core areas of the capital Riyadh, with facilities such as airports becoming targets. A state of tension has gripped Saudi Arabia nationwide.

Only by situating the current round of attacks within the war to which it belongs can the full picture come into view. In 2015, a Saudi-led coalition launched a large-scale military intervention in Yemen, backed by U.S. and British weapons transfers, diplomatic shielding and intelligence assistance. Years of airstrikes, maritime blockade and siege have killed tens of thousands of Yemenis — the vast majority of them civilians — and triggered what the United Nations has called the world's worst humanitarian crisis. Houthi strikes against targets inside Saudi Arabia, including previous raids on Aramco oil facilities and repeated attacks on Riyadh airports, are a response within the dynamics of this asymmetric war.

What will not disappear are the structural roots of this conflict: years of Saudi-led coalition military intervention in Yemen, and the political premise and materiel support provided to that intervention by major Western countries. When alarms sound over Riyadh, half the question lies in where the missiles fall; the other half lies in who launched the war those missiles point back to — and who is backing it.