12 Dead, 309 Injured as Houthis Strike Saudi Arabia's Busiest Airport
October 12, 2026 · Frisian News
Photo: Wikimedia Commons
A Houthi missile killed 12 people, including an American, and wounded 309 others at King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh on October 10, 2026, Saudi civil aviation authorities confirmed. The attack, the deadliest in the kingdom in more than a decade, came hours after Saudi Arabia's foreign minister held diplomatic calls on de-escalation and as the kingdom ran low on missile interceptors.
Twelve people are dead and 309 others wounded after a missile struck terminals 3 and 4 at King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh on Saturday, October 10, according to Saudi Arabia's General Authority of Civil Aviation. The dead included four Saudi citizens, two Bangladeshis, and one each from the United States, Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Sudan, and Palestine. Several of the injured remain in critical condition.
It was the deadliest attack in the kingdom in more than a decade, according to the Wall Street Journal. It was also the third missile strike on King Khalid this week. The two earlier strikes this week killed four people and damaged a Saudi commercial aircraft on the tarmac.
Earlier on Saturday, Saudi Arabia's foreign minister and his Omani counterpart spoke by phone about the importance of "supporting diplomatic solutions to de-escalate tensions" in the region, Saudi authorities said. The missile landed that afternoon anyway. Asked by reporters outside the White House whether the United States would join Saudi-led strikes against the Houthis, President Trump replied: "We may. We're going to look at it. We just found out about the recent attack, so we'll make a decision. We move very quickly."
Saudi Arabia's own defense posture shows how far from resolution the conflict is. The kingdom has run low on missile interceptors and has asked France, Britain, Pakistan, and Egypt to deploy air defense support, regional officials told the Associated Press. Saturday's strike came with no advance warning from Saudi Arabia's threat-warning system, according to Reuters.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio confirmed the American fatality and said the attacks "demonstrate a blatant disregard for innocent civilian life." The Saudi-led coalition called the strike "a full-fledged war crime" and pledged a response "in accordance with international humanitarian law." Coalition spokesman Maj. Gen. Turki al-Maliki said the attack "will be met with a firm response."
The airport shut down immediately, with police blocking all entrances and lights around the complex dimmed. Flight-tracking site FlightAware recorded at least 291 canceled flights at Riyadh over the preceding 24 hours. Air India, FlyDubai, Lufthansa Group, and Pakistan International Airlines had already suspended Riyadh routes. The European Union Aviation Safety Agency expanded its guidance on Saudi airspace, warning that Houthi missile and drone operations "create an increased risk of misidentification of civil aircraft."
The Houthis had warned global airlines "for the last time" earlier in the week about operating in Saudi airspace, which they described as a theater of military operations. The assault came less than a week after the Saudi-led coalition launched a counteroffensive in Yemen's Hodeidah province. Houthi territorial gains along Yemen's Red Sea coast gave the group better surveillance of shipping on the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, a crucial alternative to the Strait of Hormuz, where Iran has been attacking ships.
One witness told Agence France-Presse: "I was on gate 403. I saw [gate] 401 hit, I saw injured [people] in front of my eyes. Everyone was running." Ambulances and helicopters rushed the wounded to hospitals already struggling with the influx. Saudi authorities warned the public separately that sharing footage of missile and drone intercepts "exposes you to legal liability."
The kingdom's energy ministry, hours after Saturday's attack, was still promoting a major international energy conference set to open in Riyadh the following day.
Published October 12, 2026 · Frisian News