NEW DELHI: Saudi Arabia has launched an investigation to determine how its air defenses failed to intercept a barrage of missiles and drones fired by Iran-backed Houthi rebels, including an attack on Riyadh airport that killed at least 13 people and wounded over 300, two regional officials said Monday.
The officials, who spoke to media on condition of anonymity, said the initial probe showed that Yemen’s Houthis first fired multiple drones to pave the way for a mix of cruise and ballistic missiles to reach Riyadh’s King Khalid International Airport.
The Houthis possess ballistic missiles and advanced systems fitted with warheads that can change direction during flight and pose a challenge to Patriot interceptors and other defense systems used by the Saudis.
One of the officials said the investigation also aims to find out why air defense systems did not provide earlier warning of the attack in which the Houthi missiles and drones flew over 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) to reach Riyadh.
The incident, one of a string of Houthi attacks since last week on Saudi airports, has exposed vulnerabilities in Saudi Arabia’s defense system and signaled a dangerous inflection point in an expanding Mideast conflict that began more than seven months ago when the US and Israel launched their war against Iran.
The Saudi-led coalition also said it had twice intercepted and destroyed ballistic missiles launched Monday by the Houthis toward Riyadh. At least three explosions could be heard Monday night in the city. Civil defense officials later said the danger had passed.
