Riyadh airport suspends operations after attack leaves several wounded

Saudi authorities suspended operations at Riyadh’s King Khalid International Airport on Saturday after a Riyadh airport attack left several people wounded, AFP reported.

A diplomatic source blamed a missile fired by Yemen’s Houthis, who have repeatedly targeted the facility since a truce with Yemen’s government collapsed in July.

What happened in the Riyadh airport attack?

A missile hit the airport around 3:00 pm (1200 GMT), according to a diplomatic source. Dozens of people were injured, with five in intensive care at one hospital. The civil aviation authority said operations were temporarily suspended pending a damage assessment and safety checks.

The Saudi civil aviation authority confirmed the attack had injured several people at the sprawling airport. It said the number of injured was still being assessed. Operations “had been temporarily suspended pending the completion of an assessment of the damage and verification of the safety of the facilities”, the authority said.

Health officials activated a rare mass call-up of doctors to deal with the “serious emergency”, a medical source told AFP. The health ministry ordered ER doctors to report to hospitals around the capital to treat the wounded.

Who is behind the attack on Riyadh airport?

The diplomatic source attributed the strike to the Iran-backed Houthis. “Houthis are attacking civilian targets. Riyadh airport is a civilian target,” the source said. The group did not announce any new attacks on Saturday.

The Houthis have repeatedly targeted the facility, claiming a series of strikes on Thursday that killed three people and damaged a plane. They have also attacked Saudi airports, oil facilities and tankers since the truce in their long-running war with Yemen’s Riyadh-backed government unravelled in July.

Admissions by Saudi authorities of strikes hitting civilian targets are relatively rare. Officials have issued few statements on Houthi attacks in recent weeks. The scale and frequency of the recent strikes targeting Riyadh are unprecedented in the eight months of war in the region.

What did witnesses and doctors say about the airport strike?

A witness waiting to board a flight reported hearing an explosion. Another said they saw a strike that left people wounded and fleeing in panic. “I was on gate 403” at the domestic terminal, the witness told AFP. “I saw 401 hit, I saw injured in front of my eyes. Everyone was running.”

A medical source said: “We were told we are dealing with a ‘serious emergency situation’. Injured are being moved to hospitals across Riyadh”, with many in critical condition. A relative of one wounded person said they had been hit in the shoulders and arms by shattered glass.

Three witnesses confirmed people were being evacuated from the airport. Two doctors told AFP that several pilgrims headed to Mecca had been injured while waiting to board their flight. Near the airport, passengers carrying luggage could be seen standing on the pavement at a metro station.

How have embassies responded to the Riyadh airport attack?

The US embassy in Saudi Arabia said it was “aware of attacks” on the airport on Saturday and called on American citizens to avoid the area. The Canadian, German and Spanish embassies also warned their citizens to avoid the facility. Spain’s embassy, in a message on X, alerted nationals to a “new attack... by the Houthis”.

A senior Western diplomat told AFP that several embassies “indicated that they had decided to prohibit their staffs’ travel to/from Riyadh Airport over the next week as a prudential step”.

What is happening in Yemen’s conflict?

The Yemen conflict flared back to life after a four-year, UN-brokered truce collapsed, months into a wider Middle Eastern war that has rocked the region and roiled energy supplies and markets. Saudi Arabia leads an international coalition that supports Yemen’s government militarily, and has been drawn deeper into its impoverished neighbour’s civil war. Both Riyadh and the Houthis have signalled a willingness to keep fighting rather than pursue diplomacy.

Meanwhile, Saudi-supported government forces were advancing against the Houthis in areas the group captured last month around the Bab al-Mandab strait, military sources told AFP. The strait is a key chokepoint for Red Sea oil and cargo shipping.

The Yemeni government announced a counter-offensive last week aimed at retaking all areas held by the Houthis. The group had seized the country’s entire western coastline in a lightning offensive. The Houthis confirmed that government forces had attacked in the Bab al-Mandab area, but claimed to have repelled the assault.

Claims by the warring parties have been impossible to independently verify. The situation is moving fast on the ground, and access for journalists is difficult.