Riyadh airport attacked again and evacuated as explosions rock the Saudi capital

 The airport in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, was attacked again on Saturday and evacuated, two regional officials said, two days after three Saudi citizens including a pilot were killed as the kingdom faces an extraordinary series of assaults in the new front in the Iran war.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorised to speak to the media. Ambulances were seen rushing in the direction of the airport.

Flights to Riyadh were diverting elsewhere, the Flightradar24 tracker said, almost four hours after the last flight landed at 2:05 p.m. Kuwait Airways said it was canceling flights because the airport had closed. Canada’s embassy advised citizens to avoid all travel to the airport, noting "ongoing military activity.”

King Khalid International Airport has been targeted multiple times in the week since a Saudi-led coalition launched a major military offensive against Iran-backed Houthi rebels in neighbouring Yemen. The Houthis claimed responsibility for the earlier attacks, including one Wednesday that killed a Sudanese national.

There was no immediate Houthi statement Saturday. The Saudi government-run Center for International Communication, which oversees foreign media in the kingdom, didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

A Riyadh resident, Ahmed Sayed, told The Associated Press he heard at least two loud explosions that rocked the capital.

The airport issued a terse alert telling passengers to check their flight status with airlines before heading to the airport. At least 225 flights at the airport had been canceled over the past 24 hours, according to flight-tracking site FlightAware.

Associated Press