The Iran-backed Houthi insurgents of Yemen claimed responsibility on Thursday for attacking King Khalid International Airport in Saudi Arabia’s capital of Riyadh with a ballistic missile.
Saudi officials said the airport in Abha was also attacked and three civilians were killed by the Houthi strikes.
Saudi Arabia’s aviation authority said a Moroccan and an Algerian national living in Abha were killed by that attack, while a Sudanese national living in Riyadh was killed by the strike on King Khalid airport. Saudi officials said 28 people were wounded in Abha, plus another 8 in Riyadh.
The Houthis issued a statement on Thursday morning taking credit for the Riyadh attack, but did not immediately claim responsibility for bombing the airport in Abha.
Maj. Gen. Turki a-Maliki, spokesman for the Saudi-led regional coalition against the Houthis, said coalition forces were able to intercept several ballistic missiles fired at Riyadh and the southwestern city of Khamis Mushait.
An infographic titled “Attacks on Saudi Arabia airports” created in Ankara, Turkiye on October 8, 2026. (Elif Acar/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Maliki said the coalition also destroyed a Houthi missile launch platform near Yemen’s capital of Sanaa, which the insurgents captured in 2014.
Saudi civil defense officials said shrapnel from a missile intercepted near Riyadh fell on a kindergarten and a medical clinic, causing “material damage” to both.
Maliki vowed that the Houthi attacks “will not go unpunished.” He said a “comprehensive operation” targeting Houthi military positions in Yemen has destroyed 82 targets in recent days, including ballistic missile storage facilities, command-and-control centers, communications systems, and rally points for Houthi fighters.
Arab leaders and regional organizations condemned the Houthi attacks on Saudi airports as violations of international law. Bahrain said the “criminal” strikes are jeopardizing the lives of passengers and airport employees, while Jordan called them a violation of Saudi Arabia’s sovereignty.
Syria and Egypt also condemned the Houthi attacks as threats to the stability and security of the entire Middle East. The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) called the Houthi strikes “terrorist attacks” and said they represented a “serious escalation” of the conflict between the Houthis, Yemen’s legitimate government, and Saudi Arabia.
The Muslim World League (MWL) also slammed the Houthi attacks as “acts of terrorism that violate religious values, international law and humanitarian principles.”