The Houthis say a strike they claimed at Riyadh’s King Khalid International Airport was retaliation for Saudi military action in Yemen, as the attack killed civilians and disrupted air travel.
Saudi Arabia’s General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA) initially reported 12 deaths and 309 injuries from the Oct. 10 strike. The authority’s statement, reproduced by Riyadh Daily, included people in critical condition. The Embassy of India in Saudi Arabia later told The Associated Press that an Indian national injured in the strike had died. AP reported the update on Oct. 11, bringing the reported death toll to 13.
AP and Al Jazeera reported that the Houthis claimed responsibility on Oct. 11, after the Saudi-led coalition blamed them. AP also reported disruption to airport operations and commercial flights. In an Oct. 11 statement, Yemen’s Houthi Foreign Ministry said “the principle of reciprocity” shaped its military response and cited Saudi targeting of Sana’a airport earlier in 2026. A separate statement from the Houthi Armed Forces named Saudi airports as targets, excluding Mecca and Medina, and declared “airport for airport, blockade for blockade.”
Al Jazeera reported that government-aligned forces launched an operation dubbed “Dawn of Yemen” on Oct. 4, seeking to regain territory controlled by the Houthis. That report places the airport strike amid a renewed ground offensive in Yemen.
The United Nations (U.N.) says a Saudi-led coalition entered Yemen’s war in March 2015 at the request of the country’s internationally recognized government. Saudi Arabia has backed that government against the Houthis. The U.N. says a truce reached in 2022 formally ended that October and describes the military situation as relatively stable through early 2024.
