Published: 01:00 AM, 10 October 2026
Houthi strikes on Riyadh airport kill 3
Houthi fighters participating in an offensive against Saudi-backed Yemeni forces in Yemen's Taiz province. -EPA
Saudi Arabia said on Oct 9 that three people, including a pilot, were killed in attacks on Riyadh's international airport, after Yemen's Houthis claimed targeting the facility.
The conflict between the Houthis and Yemen's Saudi-backed government has widened, with the Iran-backed fighters staging repeated attacks on Saudi targets since they began a lightning offensive just across the border, AFP reports.
While seizing large swathes of territory along the Red Sea coast in Yemen, the Houthis have also attacked Saudi transport hubs, oil facilities and other civilian targets in the world's largest crude exporter.
The Saudi civil aviation authority said two attacks on Oct 8 on the Saudi capital's airport and a Saudia Airlines plane there "resulted in the martyrdom of three citizens".
The national flag carrier confirmed the death of the plane's captain, expressing "profound sadness" and citing an "incident" at King Khalid International Airport.
Saudi Arabia and the Yemeni government forces it backs have struggled to contain the Houthis' advance, despite a counter-offensive aimed at recapturing territory, including the area around the Bab al-Mandab strait that is crucial to global energy flows.
But a regional source said on Oct 9 that Riyadh would not bow to the Houthis' "military blackmail" and would not agree to a truce until the Yemeni government regains all territory it has lost in recent weeks.
The attacks forced diplomats stationed in the Saudi capital to shelter in place and international schools to take safety measures, as explosions echoed across the city on Oct 8.
Numerous flights at Riyadh's airport were delayed or cancelled, while the airport advised travellers of the "necessity" to contact airlines before their trips.
Singapore Airlines postponed the launch of its services until March 28, citing the conflict. Philippine Airlines cancelled flights to the capital until at least Oct 11.
Saudia, the country's national carrier, Egyptair, Indigo and Air India cancelled dozens of flights out of Riyadh on Oct 8 in the aftermath of the attacks.
Operations at King Khalid International Airport have shut down for several hours and restarted multiple times during the past few days as incoming attacks from Yemen make it unsafe for planes to land or take off from there.
Last week, Cathay Pacific Airways extended cancellation of its flights to Dubai and Riyadh through Jan 31.
The Houthis, whose heartlands are among the Zaidi Shia Muslims in the north-west, have already controlled the capital Sanaa and most of Yemen's major population centres since the start of the war in 2014.
Riyadh's military coalition intervened to support the government the following year.
After declaring their counter-offensive against the Houthis, Yemen's government claimed to have pushed the fighters out of strategic areas on the Red Sea coast and the port city of Mocha.
But the Houthis insist they are holding their territory, and military sources from both sides have not reported any major changes on the ground.
Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree said the group launched missiles at an airport in Najran and an airbase in Khamis Mushait on Oct 8.
The Houthis have also warned workers to evacuate Saudi Arabia's oil facilities, having days before hit a major refinery south of the capital.
Admissions by Saudi authorities of civilian targets being hit are relatively rare. There have been few statements on Houthi attacks in recent weeks.
Claims by the warring parties have been impossible to independently verify, with the situation moving fast and access for journalists difficult.
In Yemen, one of the world's poorest countries, ordinary civilians are paying the price for the renewed fighting, with more than 200,000 people displaced since July, according to UN data.
In Yemen's Taiz, the Houthis are laying siege to the government-controlled city in the country's west, depriving residents of their main supply route to the government's temporary capital in Aden.
"There is a crisis in everything: water, gas, vegetables, everything essential", said Um Rian.
