Saudi Arabia’s Riyadh airport hit by second Houthi strike in two days

Riyadh Airport Hit Again as Houthi Attacks Intensify

Ninoda.com – King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh was struck for a second consecutive day on Sunday, adding to fears over the safety of Saudi Arabia’s civilian aviation network as the conflict involving Yemen’s Houthi movement escalates.

Saudi military spokesman Maj Gen Turki al-Maliki said air defences intercepted a missile near the airport. However, an unidentified projectile reached Passenger Hall No 4, igniting a fire that emergency teams worked to contain. Saudi Arabia’s civil aviation authority said people were injured, though it did not immediately provide a number.

The incident followed a far more deadly attack on Saturday, when a strike at the same airport killed 13 people and injured 308. It was the deadliest single assault on a Gulf Arab state since the war involving Israel, the United States and Iran began in February.

Houthis claim responsibility

The Houthis said they carried out the latest attacks, describing an operation involving ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and drones over the previous 24 hours. Their military spokesman, Brig Gen Yahya Saree, said oil installations and Dammam airport in eastern Saudi Arabia had also been targeted.

“Escalating operations deep inside Saudi Arabia”

Saree said the group intended to continue its campaign and warned airlines and travellers against using Saudi airports or Saudi airspace. He said every Saudi airport could be considered a possible target, with the exception of airports in the holy cities of Mecca and Medina.

The warning has raised immediate concerns for passengers, airlines and airport workers in a country that serves as a major regional aviation hub. Riyadh’s airport is particularly important for domestic and international travel, making repeated attacks there a serious test for security measures and air travel planning.

Victims of Saturday’s strike

Saturday’s casualties included four Saudi nationals, two people from Bangladesh, and one person each from the United States, Jordan, Palestine, Syria, Sudan and Egypt, the Saudi civil aviation authority said. The Indian embassy in Saudi Arabia later confirmed that an Indian man had died from injuries sustained in the attack.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio condemned the attacks and confirmed that a US citizen was among those killed. UK Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband said he was “appalled” by the violence.

Saudi-led coalition officials described Saturday’s attack as a war crime and vowed a response. US President Donald Trump said Washington would make a decision on whether to strike the Houthis and would move “very quickly”. UK Defence Secretary Wes Streeting said Britain could “potentially” offer further assistance to Saudi Arabia.

Pattern of attacks on Saudi airports

The renewed violence is not limited to the weekend strikes. Riyadh airport was attacked on Thursday, killing three Saudi nationals. The Houthis took responsibility and said cruise missiles had been used. Deadly attacks were also recorded at airports in Abha and Riyadh during the preceding two days.

Images from King Khalid International Airport on 8 October showed smoke and flames, underscoring the damage that can occur when civilian transport facilities are caught in a widening regional confrontation. The latest incidents have placed airports at the centre of a conflict that had already threatened oil infrastructure, border areas and Red Sea shipping routes.

Saudi authorities say their air-defence systems have intercepted incoming threats, but the repeated strikes demonstrate the difficulty of preventing every projectile or drone from reaching a target. For travellers, the main practical concern is that security conditions can change rapidly even at major airports far from Yemen’s border.

The UK Foreign Office advises against travel to parts of Saudi Arabia, including locations within 10km of the Yemeni border. Other Western embassies have also cautioned their citizens about travel in the region.

Conflict in Yemen drives regional tension

The Houthis say Saudi Arabia is being targeted because of its backing for Yemeni government forces during Yemen’s civil war. The group has also cited an air strike on Sanaa International Airport in the Yemeni capital.

Houthi-run Al Masirah TV said Sanaa airport had been hit by a Saudi air strike. Saudi Arabia has not confirmed that claim, and the allegation has not been independently verified.

Abdullah Al-Alimi Bawazir, vice-president of Yemen’s internationally recognised government, called for decisive action by regional and international partners as the fighting worsened.

A temporary truce between the Houthis and Saudi-led forces, brokered in 2022, collapsed in July. Since then, the conflict has intensified after the Houthis captured strategically significant parts of Yemen’s Red Sea coastline in a rapid offensive. Saudi strikes followed, while pro-government Yemeni forces later said they had regained those areas.

The Houthis control roughly one-quarter of Yemen’s territory but govern areas containing up to 80% of the country’s population. The Iran-backed group seeks eventual control of the entire country. Saudi Arabia views that prospect as a major security threat, fearing an Iranian-aligned state could emerge directly along its southern border.

With Riyadh airport struck repeatedly, the consequences of Yemen’s long-running war are now being felt more sharply inside Saudi Arabia’s capital. The attacks also increase pressure on regional governments and their international partners to decide how far they are prepared to go in responding to the Houthis’ expanding campaign.