Houthi Strikes Shut Riyadh Airport as Red Sea Shipping Thins
Saudi Arabia’s west coast ports and oil pipelines face sustained drone and missile attacks.
Houthi forces have escalated their campaign beyond Yemen’s borders, temporarily shutting Riyadh International Airport and targeting oil pipelines and port infrastructure along Saudi Arabia’s west coast.
The Houthis’ expanded offensive has disrupted critical transport routes into and out of Saudi Arabia. Riyadh International Airport was forced to close temporarily following direct strikes on civilian infrastructure, while sustained drone and missile attacks have targeted oil pipelines and port facilities along the kingdom’s western seaboard.
Within Yemen, the Internationally Recognised Government (IRG) has struggled to regain lost ground. While IRG forces have made a tenuous repossession of the Ras Menhali peninsula, which overlooks the Bab el-Mandeb strait at its narrowest point, they have failed to retake the coastal towns of Dhubab or Mocha. The IRG’s counteroffensive has also not advanced toward Hodeida, leaving the Houthis in control of key ports and the Hanish Islands, which provide a strategic vantage point for threatening Red Sea shipping.
Saudi Arabia’s Infrastructure Under Fire
The unsettled situation in the southern Red Sea has led to the withdrawal of coastal patrol forces previously tasked with suppressing piracy. The National Resistance Forces, which operated from Mocha, had regularly intercepted smuggled materials destined for the Houthis via Iranian routes and local networks. However, the loss of Mocha to Houthi forces has left these units without critical radar and surveillance equipment. The remnants of these forces are now being integrated into the Yemeni Coast Guard, based in Aden, though their operational capacity remains diminished.
The European Union’s Operations Aspides and Atalanta remain the only naval coalitions actively supporting merchant vessels transiting the Bab el-Mandeb. On October 16, these forces deterred an attempted pirate seizure of the St Vincent & Grenadines-flagged cargo ship MV Glamor (IMO 9177961).
The EU flotilla, which recently included the Spanish frigate ESPS Numancia (F83), the Italian frigates ITS Carlo Bergamini (F590) and ITS Luigi Rizzo (F595), and the French frigate FS Languedoc (D653), has been on high alert for a resurgence of piracy in the region. Maritime surveillance aircraft have provided additional support to these operations.
Red Sea Shipping at Risk as Naval Forces Adapt
On October 1, the FS Languedoc engaged and destroyed a Houthi drone using its 76 mm gun. The drone had been threatening the CMA CGM container ship CMA CGM Champs Elysees (IMO 9839131) and another vessel operated by MSC. The incident underscores the growing threat to commercial shipping in the lower Red Sea, where Houthi forces retain the capability to deploy both drones and speedboats from their strongholds in the Hanish Islands and along the Yemeni coast.
The Houthis’ ability to import materials through the ports of Hodeida, Ras Isa, and Salif further complicates efforts to contain the conflict. For now, the focus remains on consolidating gains in Yemen, where the IRG continues to resist Houthi advances in Taiz, a city under effective siege but still holding out against incursions.
The psychological warfare component of the Houthi campaign has so far failed to break the resolve of Taiz’s inhabitants, who lack tribal or religious ties to the Houthis and view them as alien invaders.
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