A missile exploded at the passenger terminal of King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh on Saturday, killing 12 people and injuring over 300 travellers and airport workers. The strike was the deadliest single attack on a Gulf Arab country since the war between Israel, the US and Iran began in February.
India’s embassy in Saudi Arabia said one of its citizens died on Sunday from injuries sustained in the Saturday attack, bringing the toll from that strike to 13.
Another projectile hit the same terminal on Sunday, causing a fire in a passenger hall and damage to terminals 3 and 4. One person, described as a Pakistani national, was killed and 11 others were injured.
The airport has been struck four times in the past five days. It has been closed since Saturday, and Saudi authorities have said it will remain shut until October 17.
The closure has disrupted a major Saudi gateway. Qatar Airways temporarily suspended flights to and from Riyadh and Dammam, while Etihad Airways cancelled all flights between Abu Dhabi and Riyadh, Jeddah and Dammam. Lufthansa and Air France-KLM also suspended services to and from Riyadh.
Saudi civil aviation authorities suspended operations at the airport following the attacks. Turki al-Maliki, spokesman for the Saudi-led military coalition, said air defences intercepted a missile near the Riyadh airport on Sunday.
The Yemen-based Houthis, who are backed by Iran, claimed responsibility for the attacks. They said they had used ballistic and cruise missiles and drones against the airport in the past 24 hours.
Yahya Saree, the Houthi military spokesman, warned airlines, airport staff and passengers against using Saudi airports or airspace. He said all Saudi airports except those in Mecca and Medina could be targets.
Saree said Houthi forces regarded Saudi airports as theatres of operations and vowed to intensify strikes deep inside the country. Saudi authorities also said King Fahd International Airport in Dammam had been attacked, and the Houthis targeted oil facilities in Saudi Arabia.
The attacks follow the collapse in July of a temporary ceasefire between the Houthis and Saudi-led forces that had been brokered in 2022.
The Houthis control around a quarter of Yemen’s territory and as much as 80% of its population. They have said they are targeting Saudi Arabia because of its backing for government forces in Yemen’s civil war and Saudi airstrikes on Sanaa, including an airstrike on the airport there.
Saudi energy minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman Al Saud told a conference: “there is no way someone will break Saudi Arabia's back and that the country is like a phoenix coming out of the ashes all the time.”
The US has said it is weighing joining Saudi military operations, while President Donald Trump weighs US military action against the Houthis.
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