At least 12 people were killed and dozens injured in an attack on King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh on Saturday, according to three anonymous sources cited by Reuters and The New York Times. Saudi authorities suspended all airport operations as they assessed the damage and investigated the incident, which came amid a series of attacks on the kingdom’s aviation infrastructure.
No group had claimed responsibility for Saturday’s attack at the time of reporting. However, the strike occurred as Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi rebels intensified their missile attacks against Saudi Arabia. The group has claimed responsibility for two other attacks on Saudi airports this week, including one targeting Riyadh, in which three people were killed.
Saudi authorities confirmed the latest casualty figures early on Sunday, after initially reporting an attack on King Khalid International Airport without disclosing the number of victims. The General Authority of Civil Aviation said the airport had been struck amid what it described as “continuous and flagrant attacks targeting civil aviation facilities in the kingdom”.
In a statement, the authority announced that airport operations had been temporarily suspended. It said the latest attack had caused several injuries, adding that officials were still working to establish the number of people affected. The statement did not mention any fatalities, despite reports from the three sources cited by the international media.
The authority said the suspension would remain in place until assessments of the damage had been completed and the safety of the airport’s facilities verified in coordination with the relevant authorities. Further updates would be issued later, it added.
Reports from several media outlets indicated that authorities had evacuated one of the airport’s halls following the attack. Several ambulances were also seen travelling towards an area of the airport, although officials had not provided a detailed account of the damage or the circumstances of the casualties.
The disruption to air travel was substantial. According to flight-tracking website FlightRadar, 314 flights scheduled to operate at the airport on Saturday had been cancelled, while 222 departures were delayed by late afternoon. The figures highlighted the immediate impact of the suspension on one of the largest airports in the Middle East.
Saudi Arabia had accused the Houthis earlier in the week of carrying out the previous attacks on King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh and another airport in Abha, in the kingdom’s south. Those strikes killed three people and injured more than 30 others, according to the reported figures. The attacks involved missiles and drones, according to Saudi accounts.
The Houthis have presented their attacks as retaliation for Saudi air strikes against their positions in Yemen. Riyadh has supported an offensive by forces loyal to Yemen’s internationally recognised government, which is fighting the Houthi movement.
Saturday’s attack came amid mounting concern over repeated strikes against civilian aviation facilities in Saudi Arabia. The Saudi aviation authority’s statement referred to the incidents as attacks on civil aviation infrastructure, although it did not explicitly name the Houthis as responsible for the latest strike.
With airport operations suspended pending security inspections and damage assessments, Saudi authorities had yet to provide a full account of the attack or announce when flights at King Khalid International Airport would resume.
