A projectile struck a terminal at King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh on Sunday, October 11, setting off a fire and causing an unspecified number of injuries. The coalition led by Saudi Arabia and the kingdom’s civil aviation authority confirmed [1] the incident.
Saudi air defenses also intercepted a cruise missile near the airport. Authorities did not specify whether the intercepted weapon was connected to the projectile that hit the terminal.
The airport, which serves a city of roughly 8 million people, remained closed following the previous day’s attack. Damage assessments continued while flights were either suspended or diverted away from the facility.
Sunday’s strike came just one day after a missile attack killed 13 people and wounded another 309. Some of those injured were listed in critical condition, adding to the grim toll from repeated assaults on the airport.
The Saturday attack marked the third assault on the Riyadh airport in a single week. Saudi authorities initially reported that 12 people had been killed, but that figure increased on Sunday.
A seriously wounded Indian national died at a local hospital, raising the confirmed death toll to 13. The casualties reflected the broad civilian impact of the attack on one of the kingdom’s key transportation facilities.
The dead included four Saudi citizens and two Bangladeshi nationals. One citizen each from the United States, Egypt, Jordan, Palestine, Syria, and Sudan was also killed in the attack.
An Egyptian flight attendant employed by a Saudi airline was among those who died.
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The week’s earlier attacks had already killed at least three Saudi citizens, including a pilot. A commercial aircraft sitting on the tarmac was also damaged during those assaults.
Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis claimed responsibility for Saturday’s deadly missile attack. The group also claimed additional operations during the preceding 24 hours that it said repeatedly targeted the Riyadh airport.
According to the Houthis, those operations also targeted King Fahd International Airport in Dammam and two Saudi Aramco facilities. The group did not limit its claims to a single location or type of target.
Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree said the group used ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, and drones in the operations. The claims came as Saudi authorities continued dealing with casualties, airport damage, and disrupted flights.
The Houthis renewed warnings to airlines, airport employees, and travelers against using Saudi airports and airspace. The group described those locations as a theater of operations, while making exceptions for airports in Mecca and Medina.
The militants portrayed the attacks as a response to Saudi airstrikes in Yemen. They said those airstrikes had increased and had caused civilian casualties, using that claim to frame their operations against Saudi targets.
The coalition led by Saudi Arabia condemned Saturday’s attack as a war crime directed against a civilian facility. It also stated that it would respond, although it did not provide details about the timing or form of that response.
President Donald Trump indicated that Washington would review whether to participate in Saudi military actions against the Houthis. He has previously expressed reluctance to take that step unless American military assets or shipping assets were attacked.