Attack on Riyadh airport kills 12 and injures 309, Saudi aviation authority says

An attack on King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh on the afternoon of Saturday 10 October 2026 killed 12 people and injured 309, Saudi Arabia’s General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA) said. Some of the injured are in a critical condition. The Saudi-led military coalition fighting in Yemen said the Houthi movement carried out the attack.

In a follow-up statement published by the state-run Saudi Press Agency (SPA) early on 11 October, GACA said four of the dead were Saudi citizens. The others were residents of Saudi Arabia: two from Bangladesh and one each from the United States, Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Palestine and Sudan. GACA said all the injured were being treated in several hospitals and that the airport had suffered property damage, which was still being assessed.

Airport closed

GACA’s first statement came on Saturday evening. It said the airport had been attacked “amid continued blatant attacks on civil aviation facilities in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia” and that operations were temporarily suspended pending a full damage assessment. The authority has not said when flights will resume. Its statements do not say what weapon was used or name the attacker.

According to Al Jazeera, this was the third Houthi attack on the airport that week. GACA said on 7 October that attacks on Abha International Airport and King Khalid International Airport on 6 and 7 October killed three people and injured 36. On 9 October the authority said attacks on the Riyadh airport the day before had killed three Saudi citizens, the regional newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat reported. According to the newspaper, GACA said one of those attacks hit an aircraft belonging to the national carrier Saudia. Al Jazeera reported that a pilot was among the dead.

Coalition promises response

The coalition backing Yemen’s internationally recognised government blamed the Houthis, who are backed by Iran. Its spokesman, Major General Turki al-Malki, said attacking a civilian facility “constitutes a full-fledged war crime”, Al Arabiya reported. Al Jazeera quoted him as saying the coalition would “respond decisively to this terrorist attack in accordance with the Customary International Humanitarian Law”. The two outlets give slightly different versions of the statement, and Kai Times could not open the original text.

Al-Malki also said on X that a projectile had landed near King Fahd International Airport in Dammam. According to Al Arabiya, he said the coalition had shot down a Houthi ballistic missile over al-Kharj governorate and a drone in the eastern region.

Al Jazeera reported that the head of the Houthi media office posted on X that the group had “shut down Riyadh international airport”. A post on social media shows only that the account posted it.

Wider war in Yemen

The attacks come as fighting in Yemen intensifies. According to Al Jazeera, the Houthis declared Saudi airspace a zone of military operations after the Yemeni government launched an offensive against them on Monday. They said any aircraft flying there, except over the holy cities of Mecca and Medina, would be a target. Saudi Arabia has carried out an air campaign in support of the government’s ground offensive.

Qatar said the attack was “a direct threat to the security of the region”, Al Jazeera reported. Egypt, Jordan and Oman expressed solidarity with Saudi Arabia. United States President Donald Trump called the attack “terrible” and said he was considering whether the US should join the war against the Houthis, the channel reported.

The embassies of the United States, the United Kingdom, Ireland and Canada in Riyadh issued advisories to their citizens. The US Mission said it “strongly recommends” that US citizens avoid the airport and the area around it.

It could not be established when the airport will reopen or what form the coalition’s response will take.

Kai Times could not verify the coalition’s statements, the international reactions, the casualty figures for the 8 October attacks or the death of a pilot with a primary source. That information comes only from Al Jazeera, Al Arabiya and Asharq Al-Awsat.