A missile strike on King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh on Saturday, Oct. 10, killed at least 12 people and wounded 309 others, according to Saudi Arabia's General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA). Saudi officials and news reports describe it as the deadliest attack in the kingdom in more than a decade. The Iran-backed Houthi movement of Yemen is blamed for the strike.
The dead included four Saudis, two Bangladeshis, and one each from the United States, Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Palestine and Sudan, GACA said. Hospitals were flooded with casualties brought by ambulance and helicopter, and some of the wounded were in critical condition. Reuters reported the attack came without warning. One CNN-reported account puts the toll at 13, after the Indian Embassy in Riyadh said an Indian citizen wounded in the strike later died.
The Houthis' initial responsibility is reported differently. Reuters said the group had not claimed the attack, while Breitbart reported that the head of the Houthi media office said on X that the group had 'shut down Riyadh international airport.' The Houthis have declared Saudi airspace a zone of military operations and warned airlines against flying there, excepting the holy cities of Mecca and Medina. They say their strikes respond to an intensified Saudi air campaign in Yemen, which they say has killed women and children. Reuters could not verify those claims.
Saturday's attack was the third on the airport that week. Saudi authorities said earlier attacks between Tuesday and Thursday killed six people, though Reuters described the first two attacks as killing four. On Sunday, another missile attack on the airport killed a Pakistani resident and wounded 11, according to the aviation authority. The Houthis also claimed to have targeted King Fahd International Airport in Dammam. GACA said the Riyadh airport would stay closed Monday, with several hundred flights cancelled.
Saudi Arabia vowed a 'decisive' response, and a Saudi-led coalition promised to retaliate. Asked whether the U.S. would join Saudi strikes, President Donald Trump said: 'We may. We're going to look at it... We move very quickly.' No decision was announced. Secretary of State Marco Rubio condemned the attack, and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said attacks on civilian infrastructure violate international law. UAE adviser Anwar Gargash said, 'Our security is indivisible.'
The fighting follows the unraveling this summer of a 2022 Saudi-Houthi ceasefire. The Houthis then seized the Bab el-Mandeb Red Sea chokepoint from Saudi-backed Yemeni government forces, which began an offensive this week to retake it. Reuters described the conflict as a spillover from the war on Iran that the U.S. and Israel launched in February.
The U.S., UK, Spain and Canada have warned citizens against using the airport. The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration told U.S. airlines to exercise caution flying to or over Saudi Arabia.
