Spain condemns Houthi attack on Dammam airport and points to escalation in Yemen
Yemen Herald News 
MADRID, Spain — Spain condemned Houthi attacks on civilian infrastructure in Saudi Arabia on Friday and tied them to the continuing fighting inside Yemen.
The statement came from Spain’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation.
The ministry described the attack on King Fahd International Airport in Dammam as “unacceptable and indiscriminate.”
It called for an immediate halt to the attacks, for de-escalation and for respect for international law under the United Nations Charter.
Spain expressed solidarity with the people and government of Saudi Arabia, according to the statement. It offered condolences to the families of those killed and wished the wounded a recovery.
The ministry linked the strikes to continued military operations inside Yemen. It named Taiz.
Yemen’s state news agency Saba reported the statement from Madrid. Regional newspapers carried the same ministry text the same day, drawing on the Spanish announcement rather than on Saba.
Two people were killed and eight wounded in the Dammam airport attack, according to international news agency reports. One of those killed was an Indian resident of Saudi Arabia.
A facility at the Shaybah oil field in Saudi Arabia’s Eastern Province was struck in the same period.
Spain was one of several governments and organisations to respond.
The League of Arab States rejected the attacks as a violation of Saudi sovereignty and a direct threat to the kingdom’s security. It described the targeting of airports and oil facilities as “a highly dangerous escalation.”
The Muslim World League condemned the strikes on the Dammam airport and the Shaybah facility. Its secretary-general, Mohammed bin Abdulkarim Al Issa, called them “a flagrant violation of religious values.”
Syria’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates condemned the airport attack and expressed solidarity with Saudi Arabia.
Lebanon’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates condemned the Dammam attack in the strongest terms and rejected violations of Saudi sovereignty and territorial integrity.
The United Arab Emirates and Jordan issued separate condemnations.
The European Union condemned the attacks, as did the United Kingdom, Germany and Poland. The African Union and Yemen’s internationally recognised government also issued condemnations.
US President Donald Trump called the attacks unacceptable and said Washington would decide whether to intervene. Secretary of State Marco Rubio condemned the strikes.
Iran offered to mediate and criticised the blockade of Yemen.
The Houthis did not respond to Spain’s statement.
The group has said its attacks on Saudi territory answer Saudi strikes on civilian infrastructure in Yemen. The Saudi-led coalition rejects that account.
The Dammam attack followed a sustained campaign against Saudi airports this month.
Missile and drone attacks struck King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh and Abha International Airport between October 6 and October 12. King Fahd International Airport was hit on October 11.
At least 20 people were killed and more than 370 wounded across those attacks.
Three people died in the first attacks on October 6 and 7. A Sudanese national was killed at King Khalid International Airport. Two women, from Algeria and Morocco, died at Abha International Airport. About 36 people were wounded.
An attack on October 8 destroyed a Saudia Airbus A320 at King Khalid and killed three Saudi citizens, among them the aircraft’s pilot.
A ballistic missile struck a terminal complex at the same airport on October 10, killing 13 people and wounding 308. Those killed included four Saudis, two Bangladeshis and one person each from the United States, Jordan, Palestine, Syria, Sudan and Egypt.
A Pakistani resident was killed and 11 people wounded when Terminal 4 was struck on October 11, starting a fire in a passenger hall.
Saudi forces intercepted three ballistic missiles on October 12.
Turki al-Maliki, spokesman for the Saudi-led coalition, called the October 10 attack “a full-fledged war crime” and said the coalition would respond.
Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman, the Saudi energy minister, warned of a serious response at an energy conference in Riyadh on October 11.
Saudi Arabia’s General Authority of Civil Aviation kept King Khalid International Airport closed until October 17.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned the attacks. Hans Grundberg, the UN special envoy for Yemen, called them a grave escalation.
Spain issued an earlier statement on September 8, condemning Houthi attacks against Yemeni government forces and against Saudi Arabia.
The present escalation dates to July 13, when a Saudi strike hit Sanaa International Airport. The Houthis then ended a UN-brokered truce, imposed a blockade on Saudi Arabia and opened offensives on several fronts.
Fighting inside Yemen has intensified in parallel. Taiz is among the cities worst affected.
The United Nations humanitarian needs and response plan for Yemen, published in March, put more than 22 million people in the country in need of assistance.
It recorded 18.3 million people as acutely food insecure and 5.2 million as internally displaced. More than 2.2 million children under five were acutely malnourished, 516,157 of them severely.
The plan sought 2.16 billion dollars to reach 12 million people.
Spain’s statement did not say whether Madrid would seek further action at the European Union or the Security Council.
Canada, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States advised their citizens against travel to Saudi Arabia after the October attacks.
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