Saudi warning system stayed silent before deadly airport attacks

Saudi Arabia stopped issuing public warnings of imminent military attacks days before a series of deadly strikes on Riyadh airport that killed at least 18 people and wounded more than 300.

The government has not explained why it failed to alert the public before four attacks on Riyadh over the past week.

The warnings had highlighted the violence undermining the kingdom's efforts to project an image of calm at home and abroad during its war with Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis. Their absence during the airport strikes has raised questions about Saudi Arabia's vulnerability to attacks and its ability to protect residents and visitors, four Western and Arab officials in the region and political analysts told Reuters.

The silence also reflected efforts to maintain a sense of normalcy, they said.

“They (the Saudi government) want 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,” said Sultan Alamer, a Saudi academic based in the United States and senior resident fellow at the Middle East Policy Council think tank.

Saudi Civil Defence, the national emergency management, rescue and firefighting agency under the interior ministry that issues early warning alerts, and the government's media office did not respond to emailed questions about why the warnings had stopped.

Some regional analysts said the approach risked backfiring, as the absence of alerts had heightened uncertainty in the kingdom.

On Monday, Saudi Civil Defence issued its first alerts since September 29, warning of potential threats in Riyadh and cities in the south.

Reuters could not establish whether the decision to resume alerts was a response to the airport attacks. The Saudi government did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

System goes silent

All Gulf countries have been hit by Iranian drones and missiles since the US-Iran war began in February, but their governments have adopted different approaches to public warnings.

Qatar's interior ministry has issued mobile phone alerts before nearly every attack, including during the latest strikes in July, when residents were told to stay indoors and away from windows.

Bahrain and Kuwait have repeatedly sounded sirens urging people to take shelter.

Saudi Arabia introduced a national early warning system in May, sending threat alerts to mobile phones and social media accounts. But despite a rise in Houthi attacks leading up to last week's strikes, the system went silent.

The last alert before the latest attacks was issued on September 29 for the southern province of Najran, according to posts on the Civil Defence account on X.

The authority continued to issue warnings about severe weather, including rain and flooding, as recently as Monday.

It also warned residents against sharing images, rumours or information about missile interceptions and impact sites. A post issued on Monday reiterated the restrictions under government regulations introduced in March.

Reuters could not establish whether anyone had been prosecuted for sharing such information. The Saudi government media office did not respond to a request for comment.

Before last week's airport attacks, officials from an allied Western government asked Saudi authorities why the alerts had stopped, two officials with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters.

The response was that the warnings were too disruptive and many citizens had complained that they were being woken at night, the officials said.

The Saudi government media office and officials did not respond to requests for comment on the assertion.

Michael Ratney, a former US ambassador to Saudi Arabia, said Riyadh was trying to balance public communication about the attacks with efforts to prevent disruption, but had instead heightened public unease.

“Their approach to public messaging seems like a corollary to the quandary they are in: They need to respond to the Houthis but don't want that to result in societal disruption and their public messaging is a reflection of that,” he said.

“But the lack of alerts of incoming Houthi attacks creates the very nervousness they are trying to avoid.”

New threat alert

Ali Shihabi, a Saudi analyst close to the government, said the kingdom would struggle to defend all its assets because of its size, regardless of whether it issued early warnings.

“In Saudi Arabia you have too much to protect. It's a huge country with airports, pipelines and oil facilities. There is just not enough coverage to defend everything at once, not enough Patriots (missile defence systems), interceptors and missile batteries to do it all,” he said.

“Saudi Arabia has an unlimited need for air defences,” he added.

Despite the attacks, Saudi Arabia hosted an international conference on Monday, although several major oil executives withdrew from the event.

At the World Petroleum Council Energy Congress in Riyadh, Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman, a brother of the Saudi crown prince, struck a defiant tone while acknowledging the risks and the kingdom's determination to pursue its economic plans.

He thanked those who had travelled to Riyadh “because you know this country is safe”, but added: “Our gathering here does not mean the risk is gone.”

“We will never forfeit any chance to maintain our commitment and our vision,” he said.

Embassies issue their own internal alerts

Despite the absence of public warnings until Monday, Riyadh had come under attack about a dozen times during the month, two Western officials told Reuters.

Western embassies in the kingdom had been issuing their own internal missile and drone alerts to staff, according to three people familiar with the matter and alerts reviewed by Reuters.

The internal warnings were compiled using a combination of intelligence from the United States and other Western governments, along with information from Saudi authorities, one of the people said.

They included alerts sent to embassy staff around the time of two airport strikes last week, the sources said.

However, the embassies themselves received no internal warning before Saturday's airport strike, the deadliest of the recent attacks, they said, without offering an explanation.

Reuters could not determine why no warning was issued before Saturday's attack.

On Sunday, Saudi state television released footage of the strike. It showed travellers inside the airport terminal, with dozens queuing to board a flight while others sat waiting, scrolling through their phones or watching departure screens.

Then came the bright orange flash of a missile explosion.