Houthi attacks kill three at Saudi airports

Houthi attacks on Saudi airports in Riyadh and Abha killed three people and injured dozens, according to reports published on October 7 and 8. The Houthis said they were behind several strikes, among them one targeting King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh.¹²³

Casualties and airport strikes

The attacks killed three people and wounded dozens, according to The New York Times and The Japan Times. Middle East Eye and Reuters, citing reports on the incidents, put the number wounded at 36. According to Saudi civil aviation authorities, attacks targeted Abha International Airport and King Khalid International Airport over Tuesday and Wednesday, though they did not say which facility was hit on either date.¹²³⁴

Reports differed in their accounts of those killed. The New York Times reported that the fatalities were two women and a man from Sudan. Middle East Eye said that Abha airport deaths included an Egyptian and an Algerian, while a Sudanese citizen died at the airport in Riyadh. In a separate account, The Japan Times said the attack on Riyadh's airport killed a man from Sudan.¹²³

The Japan Times reported damage at King Khalid and Abha airports. According to the report, those hurt in the Riyadh airport attack included five Saudis, two Egyptians and a Pakistani resident. Reuters reported that one person was killed and eight wounded at King Khalid airport, while the overall toll from the two airport attacks was three dead and 36 wounded.³⁴

Claims of responsibility and response

A Houthi spokesman said “the militia had attacked the airports”, according to The New York Times. Middle East Eye said the group took credit for multiple operations, one of which it described as a ballistic-missile attack against King Khalid International Airport. Reuters reported a different Houthi account, saying the militia described its King Khalid operation as involving several drones.¹²⁴

Jassim Mohammed al-Budaiwi, secretary-general of the Gulf Cooperation Council, condemned the attacks, according to Middle East Eye. He described them as “systematic crimes” and said attacks on civilian airports endangered travellers, workers and civilians. He also said Gulf Cooperation Council countries stood with Saudi Arabia.²

The Saudi-led coalition said the airport attacks “will not go unpunished”, Reuters reported. It said coalition forces had hit over 80 Houthi military locations in four governorates and brought down a Houthi ballistic missile north of Riyadh.⁴

Fighting in Yemen

The airport attacks occurred during intensified fighting in Yemen. The Japan Times reported that the Houthis were increasing attacks on Saudi Arabia while fighting Saudi-backed forces. Middle East Eye and Reuters reported that Yemen’s internationally recognised government had begun a counter-offensive, backed by Saudi-led coalition air support, to regain territory near Bab el-Mandeb and Mocha.²³⁴

Middle East Eye reported that Yemen's government said it had recaptured Mocha and the Arabian Gulf-facing side of the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, while Houthi media denied Mocha's loss. Reuters reported that government forces were said to have reached Mocha, though that assessment was subsequently judged premature.²⁴

More than 200,000 people had been displaced since the latest fighting began, according to Middle East Eye and Reuters. Reuters also reported that Amy Pope said: “People are running for their lives and finding nowhere safe to go.”²⁴