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World · Middle East

Houthi strikes on Riyadh airport kill three, damage Saudia plane

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Saudi Arabia's civil aviation authority said on October 9 that Houthi attacks on Riyadh's King Khalid International Airport on October 8 killed three Saudi nationals and injured several people, damaging a Saudia Airlines aircraft. Lufthansa, Air India and others have suspended flights to Riyadh.

Why it matters

One of the deadliest attacks on Saudi soil since the Yemen war escalated. Days before Riyadh hosts a major gathering of global oil chiefs, the strikes have forced more than 124 flight cancellations, and EU aviation safety authorities have widened risk guidance for Saudi airspace.

Full report

Reuters reported that Saudi Arabia's General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA) said on October 9 that two waves of attacks on King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh on Thursday killed three Saudi nationals and wounded people of several nationalities, damaging a Saudia Airlines aircraft. Saudia said one of the dead was its employee. The Houthis claimed the strikes, saying they fired ballistic missiles.

It was the second deadly wave this week: October 6-7 strikes on Riyadh and Abha airports had already killed three people and injured 36. By Friday afternoon at least 124 flights to and from Riyadh were canceled; Lufthansa suspended flights through October 16, while Air India and Pakistan International Airlines also halted service.

The Saudi-led coalition retaliated, saying it destroyed Houthi missile launch platforms and hit more than 80 Houthi military targets in Saada, Hodeida, Jawf and Marib. UN Special Envoy Hans Grundberg was due to brief the Security Council on Friday.

Context: since the US-Israeli attack on Iran on February 28 triggered a regional conflagration, Yemen's civil war has become its fiercest front, with recent Houthi gains along the Red Sea coast threatening Bab el-Mandeb shipping.

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