{"text":[[{"start":10.24,"text":"More than 100 flights from Riyadh were cancelled and multiple airlines suspended services on Thursday after the Houthis said they targeted the capital’s airport, as the conflict between the kingdom and Iran-backed rebels escalates."}],[{"start":24.04,"text":"Residents reported that loud booms were heard in the capital, and a spokesman for the Houthis claimed to have attacked the main King Khalid International Airport with a ballistic missile."}],[{"start":33.34,"text":"There was no confirmation from Saudi authorities, and the Saudi-led coalition fighting the rebel group said it had intercepted two missiles over the capital."}],[{"start":42.36,"text":"Airlines including Lufthansa and Air India said they were suspending Riyadh flights for several days, while data from Cirium showed that 188 flights — more than 40 per cent of the day’s services — had been cancelled by mid-afternoon."}],[{"start":56.6,"text":"Scores of flights were cancelled at other Saudi airports including Jeddah and Dammam, Cirium said."}],[{"start":62.28,"text":"King Khalid Airport said on Thursday afternoon that passengers should contact their airline directly to confirm flight status before travelling to the airport."}],[{"start":71.752,"text":"The US Embassy in Riyadh said American government employees working in Saudi Arabia now required a “special authorisation” to use the airport and that they should stay away from the border with Yemen “due to safety risks”."}],[{"start":84.6,"text":"The Saudi Civil Aviation Authority did not immediately respond to a request for comment."}],[{"start":89.64,"text":"Fragments from the interception of a ballistic missile caused damage to a medical clinic complex and a kindergarten, Saudi civil defence officials said."}],[{"start":98.08,"text":"The flight disruptions come as Saudi Arabia gears up to hold major events, including the World Petroleum Congress next week followed by the Future Investment Initiative conference — its flagship annual event that attracts top executives, investors and bankers from around the world — on October 26 to 29 in Riyadh."}],[{"start":116.32,"text":"Many European carriers have not resumed services to Riyadh since the US and Israel launched the war against Iran in February."}],[{"start":123.6,"text":"The latest barrage came after the kingdom said that three people had been killed and dozens injured in Houthi attacks on Saudi airports earlier this week, including Riyadh."}],[{"start":132.6,"text":"A Sudanese man was killed and seven other people were injured in an attack on King Khalid Airport on Wednesday, Saudi aviation authorities said. Two women were killed and 30 people injured in another strike on Abha airport in the kingdom’s south-west on Tuesday."}],[{"start":147.7,"text":"The attacks were claimed by Iran-backed Houthis who warned international airlines that they would continue target Saudi airspace, according to a statement by Brigadier General Yahya Saree, a military spokesperson for the group."}],[{"start":161.2,"text":"Fighting continues on multiple battlefronts across Yemen between Houthi rebels and forces of the internationally recognised Yemeni government that is supported by Saudi Arabia. The long-running conflict reignited in July."}],[{"start":174.68,"text":"“The brutal attacks by the terrorist Houthi Militia on civilian objects in the kingdom . . . will not go unpunished,” said Major General Turki al-Maliki, a military spokesperson for the Saudi-led coalition, in a statement."}],[{"start":187.36,"text":"The Yemeni armed forces said on Thursday that it conducted 2,103 “precision-targeting operations” against the Houthis in several provinces, according to the government-linked Saba state news agency."}],[{"start":200,"text":"The government forces, backed by Saudi air strikes, launched a major blitz on Sunday to recapture all Yemeni territory from the Houthis who last month took control of the areas overlooking the strategic Bab al-Mandab Strait in a lightning offensive."}],[{"start":215.48,"text":"Saudi Arabia intervened in Yemen’s civil war in 2015 in an attempt to restore the internationally recognised government after the Houthis took over the capital Sana’a."}],[{"start":225.44,"text":"A truce agreed in 2022 between the kingdom and the Houthis collapsed in July after the rebels declared a blockade on the kingdom’s Red Sea ports and attacked Saudi ships and oil infrastructure."}],[{"start":242.68,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1791502199_3953.mp3"}