Reports: Riyadh Airport Strikes Kill 18, Alerts Absent

Saudi Arabia issued no public alerts before four Houthi-attributed attacks on Riyadh over the past week, including airport strikes that killed at least 18 and injured more than 300. Civil defense last alerted on September 29 for Najran province after introducing a national early warning system in May, then resumed alerts Monday for Riyadh and southern cities. The government has not explained the gap. Two Western officials said the capital was attacked about a dozen times in October, and embassies received no internal warning before Saturday's deadliest strike. Officials told a Western government that alerts stopped because they were disruptive and residents complained about being woken at night. Sultan Alamer said the government wants "to have it both ways: to launch a military operation and at the same time try to give confidence to the population and external stakeholders." Michael Ratney said "the lack of alerts of incoming Houthi attacks creates the very nervousness they are trying to avoid." Ali Shihabi said Saudi Arabia has "too much to protect" among airports, pipelines and oil facilities. At an international energy conference still hosted in Riyadh, Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman said "Our gathering here does not mean the risk is gone."