Houthi strikes leave Umrah pilgrims anxious; group vows more attacks

Umrah pilgrims visiting Islam’s holiest sites in Saudi Arabia have been caught up in the kingdom’s air war with Yemen’s Houthis, as the group vowed to keep striking Saudi airports and oil facilities.

Missile strikes on airports have disrupted travel and raised fears among visitors, even though Makkah and Madina remain outside the targets, The Express Tribune reported, citing Reuters.

Pilgrims in the line of fire

Footage of Saturday’s blast at Riyadh airport’s departure terminal, which killed 13 people and wounded around 300, showed passengers wearing the simple white garments of Umrah pilgrims. Saudi media reported that a Bangladeshi imam leading a group of dozens of pilgrims was killed and others were wounded.

The Houthis have said they will not attack Makkah or Madina, but worries remain. “I feel deeply worried for my family and myself,” said Fadi Anwar, a Jordanian living in Makkah, adding that repeated phone alerts had caused anxiety.

Sudanese visitor Al Amin Hassan Mohammed was in Riyadh during Saturday’s attack. Friends whose journey through Riyadh was disrupted travelled by boat to Sudan from Jeddah instead.

Travel thrown into disarray

• Flights: while many pilgrims fly directly to Jeddah or Madina, others pass through hubs that have been grounded by the strikes
• Road journeys: travellers are driving to Bahrain, Qatar or Dubai to catch onward flights, and fares to Doha and Dubai have doubled, a transport company representative said
• Companies: one senior executive said foreign employees were being moved by road to Doha
• Warnings: France told its citizens on Tuesday to avoid Riyadh, Jeddah and Dammam airports

“Operations will continue”

Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree said the group had carried out “a high-quality military operation targeting Aramco in Dhahran” and strikes on Riyadh airport and a refinery in the capital, using “a large number of ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and drones”, Dawn reported, citing AFP.

“Operations toward Saudi depths will continue in the coming days, targeting Saudi enemy airports and oil facilities,” he said. A Saudi energy ministry official said an Aramco building in Dhahran was hit, causing a “limited fire” but no casualties.

Life in Riyadh

Powerful explosions rattled Riyadh again on Wednesday as phones received warnings of an “aerial threat”. Most strikes have targeted the outskirts, but the barrages appear to be getting closer to the city centre. “We were scared and all looking up at the sky,” one witness said. Traffic has thinned as schools moved to remote learning and some companies ordered staff to work from home.

Saturday’s strike on the airport was the worst attack on the kingdom since 2015, AFP reported. The IMF expects Saudi Arabia’s economy to shrink 3.3 percent this year.

Why it matters

Millions of Muslims, including many Pakistanis, travel to the holy cities every year. The Houthis say Makkah and Madina are safe, but with airports under fire, every pilgrim’s journey has become harder and more frightening. Read our reports on the Houthi missile that hit Aramco and on Pakistan’s commitment to Saudi security.

This article draws on reporting by The Express Tribune, Dawn, Reuters and AFP.