Three Houthi ballistic missile strikes killed 16 people across the week in Riyadh and forced King Khalid International Airport to suspend flight operations. The deadliest bombardment struck domestic passenger terminals on Saturday (10), leaving 12 dead and 309 wounded inside the capital of Saudi Arabia.

In response to the terminal strikes, the Saudi-led military coalition conducted retaliatory airstrikes against Sanaa International Airport in Yemen on Sunday (11), with coalition spokesperson Major General Turki al-Malki classifying the bombardment of civilian infrastructure as a war crime.

Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree confirmed the offensive against the Saudi aviation infrastructure, formally declaring commercial runways and regional skies as active military zones while sparing only the holy cities of Mecca and Medina. “The airports and airspace are exposed to targeting and constitute a theater of operations for our forces,” Saree stated following the strikes on the capital. The escalation marks the collapse of a regional truce that unraveled in July 2026, leading to renewed Red Sea offensives in September 2026 and direct missile barrages against the hub, which serves an estimated 8 million passengers and residents.

Read also: Riyadh's King Khalid airport hit again, injuring several amid escalating Houthi conflict

King Khalid Airport attack timeline and casualties

The General Authority of Civil Aviation diverted inbound traffic away from Riyadh as local municipal officials ordered schools across the capital to switch classes to an online format. Fatalities from the Saturday bombardment included four Saudi citizens, two Bangladeshi nationals, and citizens of the United States, Egypt, Jordan, Palestine, Syria, and Sudan.

• Wednesday, October 7, 2026: A missile and drone barrage killed one person and wounded eight at the complex.
• Thursday, October 8, 2026: Ballistic missiles hit airport facilities and a Saudia aircraft, killing three Saudi citizens, including a commercial pilot.
• Saturday, October 10, 2026: Strikes directly hit Terminals 3 and 4, killing 12 people and injuring 309.

Impact on Saudi Arabia economic initiatives and global diplomacy

The missile strikes disrupt a dense diplomatic and business calendar in Riyadh, where government authorities scheduled both the WPC Energy Congress and the Future Investment Initiative summit for October 2026. United States President Donald Trump addressed the incident alongside Secretary of State Marco Rubio when questioned about potential military retaliations alongside Saudi forces. “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,” Trump stated regarding the terminal strikes.

Keep reading: Emergency alerts issued in Riyadh after multiple unexplained detonations disrupt flights and raise tensions

Security precedents and unresolved operational damage in Riyadh

The strikes on King Khalid International Airport mark the deadliest security incident on Saudi territory in more than a decade, following the mosque bombings in Qatif and Dammam in May 2015. Coalition forces began military operations against the Houthi movement in 2015 during the Yemeni civil war before entering a prolonged ceasefire that broke down earlier this year.

The full extent of the structural damage across the runways at King Khalid International Airport has not been confirmed by aviation authorities, and the United States government has not yet confirmed whether it will authorize joint strikes against Houthi launch sites.