Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has reportedly gone into hiding as Houthi rebels intensify missile attacks on Riyadh.
The latest strike hit the capital’s international airport on Sunday, killing one person and leaving 11 others injured.
It came just a day after the deadliest attack on Saudi Arabia in a decade, when a projectile struck King Khalid International Airport, killing 13 people and injuring hundreds.
The sharp escalation in the conflict between the Saudi-led coalition government and Iran-backed Houthi fighters prompted Donald Trump to warn that the United States could intervene.
On Sunday, Trump said he “may” join a counterattack after Saudi Arabia vowed to retaliate against the rebels.
As Houthi missile strikes on Riyadh grow more frequent, the crown prince has reportedly been forced to seek shelter in secure locations.
Mohammed bin Salman, 41, has allegedly spent the past six days moving between heavily guarded palaces equipped with bunkers, officials said.
He was last seen in public on Tuesday, when he donated blood as part of a national campaign encouraging donations.
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, 41, has reportedly gone into hiding and is moving between heavily guarded palaces with bunkers as Houthi attacks on Riyadh intensify
Surveillance footage captures smoke and flames as people react during an attack at King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh
Houthi rebels claimed responsibility for the attack, which killed one person and injured 11 others
The Wall Street Journal reported that the 41-year-old crown prince was “shuttling between heavily guarded palaces equipped with bunkers” and protected by a handpicked security team, according to officials familiar with his movements.
Schools throughout the capital have also been closed, with lessons moved online as the Houthi attacks continue.
The developments came after President Trump suggested that Washington could take action against the Houthi rebels as he continues to wage war on Iran.
Last month, Trump described the crown prince as a “good friend.”
Asked about the growing momentum of Houthi fighters in Yemen, he said: “Everything is gonna work out fine and dandy. It’s gonna be very good.”
When reporters later asked whether the United States would become involved in the conflict, the president replied that he was “going to look at it.”
Sunday’s Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia triggered international condemnation, with the UK and European Union denouncing the strikes and reaffirming their support for the kingdom.
British Defence Secretary Wes Streeting called the Houthi missile strikes “contemptible” and warned that they represented a “dangerous escalation” of the conflict.
The UK has advised against travel to Saudi Arabia, urging British nationals to “continue to avoid King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh until the airport is secure”
The attack on King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh on Saturday left 13 dead and more than 300 injured
A thick black column of smoke and flames could be seen rising from Riyadh airport
An urgent evacuation was triggered at the international travel hub as all flights to Riyadh had either been diverted or cancelled
He told Sky News: ‘What we’ve seen overnight is a dangerous escalation and I’m afraid an increasing pattern of behaviour from the Houthis that’s targeting civilian sites in Saudi Arabia.
‘This is completely contemptible action and it’s one of the reasons why the UK is providing support to Saudi Arabia in the form of air defences, but also air-to-air refuelling.
‘We want to see an end to this conflict. It cannot be right that the Houthis are attacking civilian targets in this way.’
Meanwhile EU chief Ursula von der Leyen joined the chorus of condemnation as she too labelled the attacks a ‘dangerous escalation’ while calling on the Houthis to halt strikes on civilian targets.
She said: ‘These attacks by Iran’s proxies are pushing the region into a spiral of violence.
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‘They are destabilising crucial global transport and energy nodes with shockwaves sent through the world. These murderous attacks at civilians must stop at once.’
She added that the EU stands in ‘solidarity with Saudi Arabia’.
The Houthis last night claimed responsibility for the attacks on King Khalid International Airport yesterday, which killed one person and injured 11 others.
The group said it had targeted the location several times as well as Saudi energy facilities, a day after Saturday’s deadly attack.
Military spokesman Yahya Saree said the Iran-backed group ‘carried out four qualitative operations in the past 24 hours using ballistic and cruise missiles and drones’.
Saudi Arabia’s civil aviation authority condemned the ‘heinous attack’ – saying it resulted in ‘material damage’.
The authority said: ‘The attack resulted in the death of a Pakistani resident – may God have mercy on him – and the injury of 11 others.’
It came just hours after the rebel group warned that Saudi airports are ‘potential targets and sites for operations by our forces’.
Mr Saree urged ‘everyone to take our warnings seriously,’ adding that Saudi Arabia ‘bears responsibility’ for failing to intercept its missiles.
On Saturday, 13 people were killed in a missile strike on the Riyadh airport while more than 300 were left injured.
Four Saudi citizens were among the dead, including a captain with the national airline as well as two Bangladeshis, one US citizen, one Egyptian, one Jordanian, one Syrian, one Palestinian, one Sudanese and one Indian.
The wreckage of the Saudia Airlines plane at King Khalid International Airport following an attack on Thursday
People gather outside a metro station on the road to King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh after the latest attack by Houthi rebels left 13 dead and more than 300 injured
Near the airport, passengers carrying luggage could be seen standing on the pavement at a metro station
The strike hit a passenger terminal at King Khalid on Saturday.
It was the deadliest on the kingdom in over a decade, when an Islamic State suicide bomber killed 21 worshippers in a Shia mosque in the eastern Qatif governorate.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio condemned Saturday’s incident and shared that one unidentified American died.
He said: ‘The United States strongly condemns the recent attacks on the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia by the terrorists Houthis, including today’s strike on King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh that took numerous innocent lives, including an American citizen.’
Mr Rubio continued: ‘These reprehensible attacks demonstrate a blatant disregard for innocent civilian life. They must stop now.
‘We stand with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and its people and extend our condolences to the victims and their families.’
Saudi coalition spokesman Major General Turki al-Malki described the strike as a ‘cowardly terrorist attack’ against a civilian facility.
The civil war in Yemen flared back to life in July after a four-year, UN-brokered truce collapsed, months into a wider Middle East war that has rocked the region and roiled energy supplies and markets.
Saudi Arabia leads an international coalition that has supported Yemen’s government militarily since 2015 and is now being drawn deeper into its impoverished neighbour’s conflict.
Mr Trump has said he will speak with Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman, calling what happened in Saudi Arabia ‘not acceptable’.
He told reporters: ‘It’s not good… I’m not happy.’
US media outlets have reported that previous Saudi requests for US military assistance in dealing with the Houthis have been rebuffed.
If Mr Trump does decide to get involved, it would likely escalate the ongoing war between the US and Iran.