Suspected Houthi missile hits Riyadh airport, five in intensive care

Explosion and evacuation in Riyadh

On Saturday, loud explosions were heard at King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh, and the site was evacuated, according to witnesses cited by Reuters. A diplomatic source told AFP that a missile fired by the Houthis had hit the airport around 15:00, and the source described the airport as a civilian target. One witness said he heard an explosion while waiting to board a flight, while two other witnesses could not confirm which incident had triggered the evacuation. Reuters, citing an eyewitness, reported that more than a dozen ambulances were rushing to the airport. A medical source told AFP that five people were in intensive care after being wounded, while Saudi authorities had not officially confirmed the evacuation.

Earlier strikes that killed Saudi nationals

The Saturday incident came two days after strikes on Thursday, which Saudi authorities said killed three Saudi nationals, including a pilot, in two attacks by the Iran-backed Houthis. BBC reported that another three people were killed in Houthi attacks on two Saudi airports on 6 and 7 October, while La Vanguardia counted four deaths across the week, including the pilot. On Wednesday the airport had also been targeted, causing disruption to air traffic, and the Thursday strikes damaged an aircraft. After the Thursday strikes, the airport had told travellers to check with their airlines before heading to the site, and it repeated that message on Saturday.

Airlines and Saudi silence

Etihad Airways and Qatar Airways cancelled several flights between their hubs and Riyadh, according to Reuters, and some of those cancellations extended to Monday. Several airlines had already suspended or cancelled services to the Saudi capital earlier in the week, shortly before Riyadh is due to host conferences on energy and investment. The airport asked passengers on X to contact their airlines directly and verify flight status before travelling there. Saudi authorities have not commented on the Saturday blast, and the government press office and civil aviation authority did not respond to requests for comment. Le Soir noted that Saudi officials had made few statements about the consequences of the Houthi attacks in recent weeks.

Houthi campaign and the collapse of the truce

The Houthis say they are targeting Saudi Arabia over its support for government forces in Yemen's civil war. A Saudi-led coalition was formed in 2015 to stop the Houthis taking over Yemen from its internationally recognised government, and a temporary ceasefire brokered in 2022 followed years of air strikes and ground fighting that killed hundreds of thousands of people. The informal truce began to unravel in July, when the Houthis announced a maritime embargo against Saudi Arabia and began missile and drone attacks on Saudi airports, oil facilities and tankers in the Red Sea. The group says it is retaliating against what it describes as a years-long Saudi blockade and an air strike on Sanaa airport. The Houthis also seized strategically important stretches of the Red Sea coast, including the port of Mokha on the Bab al-Mandab Strait, and Yemeni pro-government forces have since said they had secured the strait. Le Soir describes Saudi Arabia as the world's largest crude exporter and notes that it rarely acknowledges strikes on civilian targets.