Saudi Arabia stopped issuing public warnings of incoming attacks days before the deadly missile strikes on Riyadh's international airport, Reuters reported on Tuesday.
According to the report, Saudi civil defense sent its last threat alert on September 29, for the southern province of Najran. No warnings were issued in the days that followed, including before Saturday's Houthi missile strike on the airport, the deadliest of four attacks on Riyadh in a week.
Two officials with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters that an allied Western government asked Saudi authorities why the alerts had stopped. The answer, they said, was that the warnings had become too disruptive and that many citizens had complained of being woken at night.
The Saudi government has not publicly explained the gap, and civil defense and the government media office did not respond to Reuters' questions. On Monday, civil defense issued its first alerts since September 29, covering Riyadh and southern cities.
Reuters reported that the airport strikes killed at least 18 people and wounded more than 300. The Wall Street Journal has described Saturday's attack as the deadliest single strike on the United States or its Gulf allies in the conflicts tied to the Iran war.
Western embassies reportedly sent internal warnings to their staff around the first two airport strikes, but not before Saturday's attack.
Former U.S. ambassador to Saudi Arabia Michael Ratney told Reuters that the lack of alerts "creates the very nervousness they are trying to avoid." Saudi analyst Ali Shihabi, who is close to the government, said the kingdom has too much to protect and too few air defenses, with or without warnings.
The kingdom introduced its mobile phone and social media alert system in May. Under regulations issued in March, residents are also barred from sharing images or information about missile interceptions and impact sites.
The contrast with Israel's approach is stark. Throughout the war, the Home Front Command has issued real-time alerts down to the neighborhood level, even when it meant sending millions of Israelis to shelters in the middle of the night.
