‘These attacks must cease immediately’: Guterres condemns deadly Houthi strike on Riyadh airport
By R Anil Kumar
New York/Bengaluru, Oct 11, 2026. UN Secretary-General António Guterres has condemned Houthi missile attack on Riyadh’s main airport that Saudi authorities say killed 12 people and wounded more than 300.
In a short statement issued late on Saturday, he said attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure violate international law. “These attacks must cease immediately,” Mr. Guterres said.
Saudi Arabia’s civil aviation authority said on Sunday that 309 people were wounded in the strike on King Khalid International Airport, some of them critically.
The dead include at least four Saudis, two Bangladeshis, a US citizen, plus others from Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Palestine and Sudan. Operations were suspended and flights diverted.
Late on Sunday, Saudi authorities reported that another projectile had hit a passenger terminal at the airport in Riyadh, causing further injuries and a fire.
Third strike
It was the third Houthi attack on the airport this week. Thursday’s strikes killed three Saudis, including a Saudia pilot, and earlier attacks on King Khalid and Abha airports reportedly killed three more and wounded 36.
Houthi media reported the airport in Yemen’s capital Sana’a – which the group has controlled for years – had been hit by an airstrike on Sunday, blaming Saudi Arabia for the attack.
According to news reports, the vice-president of Yemen’s internationally recognised government called on Sunday for decisive action by regional and international partners to end the Houthi aggression.
Long war
The Iran-backed Houthis have fought the Saudi-backed government since 2014. A 2022 ceasefire largely held until this summer. In September, the Houthis swept down Yemen’s Red Sea coast, capturing the port of Mokha and islands in the Bab al-Mandab strait.
Early this month, government forces launched a counteroffensive, backed by Saudi-led air strikes, aiming to retake all Houthi-held territory – including Sana’a. The Houthis have answered with missile and drone attacks on Saudi Arabia.
Spillover from US-Iran conflict
The battle for Bab al-Mandab, the narrow gateway to the Red Sea, is a spillover from the US-Iran conflict which has destabilised global oil and gas supplies through the vital Strait of Hormuz in the Gulf.
With Iran continuing to disrupt the strait, the Red Sea has become vital for Saudi oil exports.
Saudi officials and the Yemeni government say they have now regained control of the Red Sea chokepoint – but the Houthis have denied the claim.
Security Council
The UN Security Councilmet Friday morning in New York on Yemen where Special Envoy Hans Grundberg said the country had slid back into full-scale war.
The conflict is intensifying, raising regional security and economic risks, he told ambassadors.
UN Deputy Emergency Relief Coordinator Mohamed Yahya said over 200,000 people have beendisplaced since August, the highest new displacement since the now-shattered 2022 truce.
HOUTHI ATTACKS CONTINUE UNABATED
Riyadh airport hit again, Dammam also targeted
Saudi Arabia’s King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh came under another attack on Sunday, October 11, killing a Pakistani national and injuring 11 others, according to the General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA). The attack, which took place in the afternoon, also caused material damage, the extent of which is still being assessed.
The latest incident came just a day after Saturday’s attack on the airport, described as one of the deadliest attacks on Saudi Arabia in almost a decade.
Earlier, the Saudi-led coalition said its air defences had intercepted and destroyed a cruise missile near King Khalid International Airport. The coalition also reported that Terminal 4 had been struck by an unidentified projectile, triggering a fire.
Separately, GACA said King Fahd International Airport in Dammam was targeted on Sunday evening. Damage assessments and safety inspections were underway following the incident.
Meanwhile, the Indian Embassy in Riyadh confirmed on Sunday that an Indian national, who was among 11 Indians injured in Saturday’s attack on King Khalid International Airport, had died.
The Embassy expressed condolences to the bereaved family and said it was in contact with them to provide all possible assistance, including facilitating the early repatriation of the mortal remains.
External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar expressed grief over the death and extended condolences to the family. He said the Embassy was providing all necessary assistance to those affected.
The Indian Embassy said it had been closely monitoring the condition of the injured since Saturday’s attack and had contacted local authorities and hospital officials to assess their well-being. Embassy officials also visited hospitals where the injured Indians were receiving treatment.
According to the Embassy’s latest update, three injured Indians remained in intensive care but were stable, while two others were receiving treatment in regular hospital wards. The remaining injured had been discharged.
Meanwhile, Yemen’s Houthi group claimed responsibility for four missile and drone operations targeting Saudi facilities, describing them as retaliation for what it called Saudi aggression against Yemen.
According to the Houthi-run Saba news agency, the claimed targets included King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh, the Shugadam gas facility and Tanajib oil refinery in Saudi Arabia’s Eastern Province, and King Fahd International Airport in Dammam.
The Houthis also warned international companies, aviation workers and travellers against operating flights to Saudi airports, claiming they were unsafe. However, the group said airports and airspace serving Mecca and Medina would remain exempt from its warning.
Separately, Yemen’s armed forces aligned with the internationally recognised government said they had conducted 1,732 targeting operations under their ongoing “Dawn of Yemen” offensive, claiming to have neutralised more than 900 Houthi fighters and destroyed or disabled over 287 military vehicles and other assets.
Yemen’s Houthis renew warning over Saudi airports after deadly Riyadh attack
Yemen’s Houthis warned airlines, travellers and airport workers on Sunday to stay away from Saudi airports, a day after an attack on Riyadh’s international airport killed 12 people and wounded more than 300 others.
It was the deadliest such attack in the kingdom in more than a decade and comes amid an escalation of fighting between the Iran-backed Houthis and Saudi-backed Yemeni government forces.
“We renew our warning to all airlines, experts, employees, workers and travellers against using Saudi airports and airspace, as they are vulnerable to attack and have become a theatre of operations for our forces, with the exception of the airports in (the holy cities of) Mecca and Medina,” the Houthis said in a post on X.
“We urge everyone to take our warnings seriously, and Saudi Arabia bears responsibility for any failed interceptions.”
Saudi Arabia has stepped up its military involvement in Yemen in recent weeks, launching strikes against the Houthis and backing a Yemeni government counteroffensive after the group seized strategic territory along the Red Sea coast last month.
President Donald Trump said on Saturday the United States was considering joining Saudi strikes on the Houthis in the conflict, a spillover from the wider war on Iran that the US and Israel launched in February.
The Saudi-led coalition said on Saturday that a projectile had also fallen near King Fahd International Airport in Dammam, in the kingdom’s Eastern Province. The coalition also reported intercepting a drone in the region on Sunday.
International Energy Conference still going ahead in Riyadh
Saturday’s attack has forced the temporary closure of King Khalid International Airport but the Saudi energy ministry said a long-planned international energy conference was still going ahead in Riyadh on Sunday.
The five-day WPC Energy Congress is taking place at a convention centre some 10 km (6 miles) from the airport. State TV said more than 70 ministers, 300 company executives and representatives of over 25 international energy organisations have confirmed their attendance.
It was not immediately clear whether the participants would attend in person or virtually.
A ministerial meeting of the International Energy Forum is also set to go ahead on Sunday, with its plenary session to be held behind closed doors, according to a media advisory. No further details were immediately available.
Separately, Saudi authorities notified parents that in-person classes would be suspended and shifted to remote learning from Sunday until Thursday for all students, teachers and administrative staff.
In Saturday’s attack, the third on Riyadh’s airport in a week, the 12 dead included 4 Saudis, 2 Bangladeshis and nationals of the United States, Jordan, Palestine, Syria, Sudan and Egypt, Saudi authorities said.
Saudi Arabia’s civil aviation authority said airport operations were temporarily suspended pending damage and safety assessments, without specifying when flights would resume.
Two previous attacks on Riyadh’s international airport earlier in the week had killed four people and caused heavy damage to a Saudi commercial plane parked on the tarmac.
New Attack on Riyadh Airport After Houthi Strike Kills 13
One person was killed and nearly a dozen others were injured in a fresh attack on Riyadh’s international airport on Sunday, just a day after a deadly Houthi strike killed 13 people and wounded over 300. Saudi-led coalition forces reported that an unidentified projectile targeted Terminal 4 of the capital’s airport, sparking a fire. The civil aviation authority confirmed one fatality and eleven injuries in Sunday’s strike.
The attack follows a massive escalation after Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi movement claimed responsibility for Saturday’s strike on the Riyadh airport, which is considered the deadliest in the kingdom in more than a decade. Footage broadcasted by Saudi state television of the Saturday attack showed religious pilgrims panicking and fleeing as a bright orange flash ripped through a gate area, causing part of the roof to cave in.
In addition to the Riyadh airport incident, Saudi air defences intercepted a cruise missile near King Khalid International Airport, destroyed a drone in the country’s Eastern Province, and intercepted a ballistic missile launched toward Khamis Mushait. The Saudi civil aviation authority also confirmed a separate strike on Dammam’s King Fahd International Airport late Sunday, where an eyewitness reported seeing a projectile hit the tarmac near parked aircraft and start a fire.
The renewed violence has exposed vulnerabilities in Saudi defence capabilities as the kingdom wages an air campaign against the Houthis, who are fighting a ground war in Yemen against the Saudi-backed government. Following the attacks, the British embassy advised citizens against non-essential travel to major Saudi airports, and US aviation authorities issued caution notices to airlines. Meanwhile, the Houthis warned that worse is yet to come unless Saudi Arabia halts its military involvement and air strikes in Yemen.
Amid the security crisis, international fallout has begun to grow. US President Donald Trump stated that Washington is considering joining Saudi strikes on the Houthis. At the same time, regional and global events faced disruptions, with German officials attempting to arrange an alternative flight home for their economy minister, while Saudi authorities shifted in-person classes in Riyadh schools to remote learning through Thursday.
