King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh has been attacked again, according to reports, because nothing says "diplomatic progress" quite like a loud blast and a mass evacuation. The airport was evacuated on Saturday after a loud explosion was heard, with two international news agencies confirming the incident.

Reuters, citing an eyewitness, reported that more than a dozen ambulances rushed to the scene. Saudi authorities have yet to comment - presumably too busy checking their airline's refund policy - while the airport itself advised passengers to check with their airline before travelling there. Which is, admittedly, solid advice regardless of incoming missiles.

The attack comes just days after Yemen's Houthi rebels claimed two successful strikes on the same hub. On Friday, authorities said three Saudi nationals, including a pilot, were killed in two Houthi attacks the day prior. Another three people were killed in Houthi attacks on two Saudi airports on 6 and 7 October. So if you're keeping score, that's a lot of dead people and a rapidly deteriorating sense of security in the region.

This all unfolds amid a marked escalation in renewed fighting between Yemen's Saudi-backed government forces and the Houthis, who control most of the country's north-west. The Houthis say they are targeting Saudi Arabia over its support for government forces in Yemen's civil war - a conflict that has been described as one of the world's worst humanitarian crises, which is saying something given the competition.

The conflict worsened after the Houthis seized strategically important stretches of the Red Sea coast in a rapid offensive, including the port of Mokha on the Bab al-Mandab Strait. That strait is the narrowest point of the Red Sea and a chokepoint for global shipping, meaning the Houthis now effectively hold a finger on the windpipe of international trade. Yemeni pro-government forces have since said they had "secured" the strait at the southern end of the Red Sea, which is a bit like saying you've secured your front door while the back door is wide open.

A Saudi-led coalition was formed in 2015 after Arab countries joined forces to stop the Houthis taking over Yemen from the country's internationally recognised government. A temporary ceasefire was brokered in 2022 after years of air strikes and ground fighting led to the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people. But the informal truce began to unravel in July, because of course it did.

The Houthis then announced a "maritime embargo" against Saudi Arabia and began missile and drone attacks on Saudi airports, oil facilities, and tankers in the Red Sea. They said they were retaliating against what they described as a years-long Saudi blockade and for an air strike on Sanaa airport. So, to summarise: a truce that didn't hold, a blockade that's been going on for years, and now airports are getting hit on a semi-regular basis. The only thing missing is a frequent-flyer discount for shrapnel.