Explosions heard in Saudi capital as airport due to reopen

BREAKING: Explosions heard in Riyadh as Saudi Arabia's main airport prepares to reopen, following a two-week closure caused by repeated attacks from Yemen's Houthis.

Explosions have been heard in Riyadh, the Saudi capital.

The blasts came just as the country's main airport was preparing to reopen. It had been closed for two weeks because of repeated attacks from Yemen's Houthi movement. These pictures show smoke rising near infrastructure outside the city.

The timing matters. Authorities had judged it safe enough to restore flights, and the road signs to the terminals were about to mean something again. You can see the approach to the airport here. Then the explosions came, and the question of whether civilian aviation can resume at all is back on the table.

The Houthis have shown they can reach the capital repeatedly, and Riyadh is a city of more than seven million people. A two-week closure of a major international airport is already extraordinary. Tonight it may be about to get longer.

This is Dave King, reporting for HIT.