Houthis warn against using Saudi airports after attack killed 12

DAILYMAIL.COM • 3h ago

By WILL HALLOWELL, NEWS REPORTER and ROBERT FOLKER, NEWS REPORTER 09:54 11 Oct 2026, updated 10:13 11 Oct 2026

The Houthis have warned against using Saudi airports after launching the deadliest strike on the kingdom’s soil, killing 12 and injuring hundreds more.

The Saudi-led coalition accused the Iran-backed group of carrying out a ‘full-fledged war crime’ on King Khalid International Airport as it vowed on Sunday to retaliate.

It came during an unprecedented wave of Houthi strikes on the kingdom after a truce agreed with Yemen’s Riyadh-backed government unravelled in July.

Houthi spokesman Yahya Saree has put out a statement saying the rebels want to ‘reiterate their warning… against using Saudi airports and airspace’ as ‘they are potential targets and sites for operations by our forces’.

He urged ‘everyone to take our warnings seriously’, adding that Saudi Arabia ‘bears responsibility’ for failing to intercept its missiles.

British Defence Secretary Wes Streeting described the Houthi rebels’ attack as a ‘contemptible’ and ‘dangerous’ escalation in the war between the two sides.

He told Sky News: ‘What we’ve seen overnight is a dangerous escalation and I’m afraid an increasing pattern of behaviour from the Houthis that’s targeting civilian sites in Saudi Arabia.

‘This is completely contemptible action and it’s one of the reasons why the UK is providing support to Saudi Arabia in the form of air defences, but also air-to-air refuelling.

‘We want to see an end to this conflict. It cannot be right that the Houthis are attacking civilian targets in this way.’

And EU chief Ursula von der Leyen joined the chorus of condemnation today as she too labelled the attacks a ‘dangerous escalation’ while calling on the Houthis to halt strikes on civilian targets.

She said: ‘These attacks by Iran’s proxies are pushing the region into a spiral of violence.

‘They are destabilising crucial global transport and energy nodes with shockwaves sent through the world.

‘These murderous attacks at civilians must stop at once.’

She added that the EU stands in ‘solidarity with Saudi Arabia’.

The ongoing bloodshed has raised the possibility of a wider escalation, with Donald Trump signalling that the US could join military action against the rebels.

Four Saudi citizens were among the dead in the attack, including a captain with the national airline as well as two Bangladeshis, one US citizen, one Egyptian, one Jordanian, one Syrian, one Palestinian and one Sudanese.

It appeared to be the first confirmed attack on the Saudi national carrier since the new offensive began.

Saudia Group said one of its aircraft was damaged while it was on the ground but no passengers were on board.

Meanwhile some of the 309 wounded were in serious condition.

One passenger witnessed a strike in the airport’s domestic terminal. They said: ‘I was on gate 403. I saw 401 hit, I saw injured in front of my eyes. Everyone was running.’

Operations at the airport were suspended following the attack and authorities said damage assessments were continuing.

Air traffic monitor Flightradar24 noted the suspension, saying ‘the closure of Riyadh Airport has been extended by another 24 hours, until 21:00 UTC today’, in a statement posted on X.

But flights continue to be suspended today, a senior aviation source in the Saudi capital said on Sunday, after authorities announced a temporary closure the night before.

The source said: ‘Riyadh airport has suspended operations again today. They informed us of this at dawn,’

A second source working in the aviation sector who helps oversee flights to Riyadh confirmed the halt in operations ‘until further notice’.

They said: ‘The information we have is that operations are suspended until further notice and that some systems have been damaged – the radar and communications equipment.’

The attack prompted health officials to activate a rare mass call-up of doctors to deal with the ‘serious emergency situation’, a medical source said.

Two doctors said several pilgrims headed to Mecca had been among the wounded.

Foreign embassies warned their citizens to avoid the airport.

Coalition spokesman Major General Turki al-Malki described the strike as a ‘cowardly terrorist attack’ against a civilian facility.

He said: ‘The cowardly terrorist attack by the Terrorist Houthi Militia… which resulted in deaths and injuries among civilian passengers and airport staff, constitutes a full-fledged war crime.’

Earlier, the coalition said it had intercepted missiles targeting Saudi Arabia and destroyed launch platforms.

The Houthis claimed a series of strikes targeting the airport on Thursday that killed three people and damaged a passenger jet, though they did not immediately take responsibility for any new attacks on Saturday.

Saturday’s attack was the deadliest in the kingdom since May 2015, when an Islamic State suicide bomber killed 21 worshippers in a Shia mosque in the eastern Qatif governorate.

The civil war in Yemen flared back to life in July after a four-year, UN-brokered truce collapsed, months into a wider Middle East war that has rocked the region and roiled energy supplies and markets.

Saudi Arabia leads an international coalition that has supported Yemen’s government militarily since 2015 and is now being drawn deeper into its impoverished neighbour’s conflict.

Donald Trump on Saturday hinted that Washington could intervene militarily to launch attacks on the Houthis.

Asked whether he had changed his mind about joining Saudi strikes on the group, the US President said: ‘We may. We’re going to look at it.

‘We just found out about the recent attack, so we’ll make a decision. We move very quickly.’

Mr Trump said he would speak with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, calling what happened in Saudi Arabia ‘not acceptable’.

He told reporters: ‘It’s not good… I’m not happy.’

US media outlets have reported that previous Saudi requests for US military assistance in dealing with the Houthis have been rebuffed.

The US, Canadian, German and Spanish embassies in Saudi Arabia warned their citizens to avoid the airport.

A senior Western diplomat said several embassies were banning their staff from using the airport ‘over the next week’.

The latest attack came on the eve of Saudi Arabia’s high-profile convention and entertainment season, which begins this month.

Riyadh usually hosts a packed calendar of events, including its flagship investment conference drawing foreign leaders and business titans.

The latest incident at Riyadh’s international airport triggered an urgent evacuation after two attacks earlier in the week left four people dead.

Witnesses saw multiple people lying injured on the ground as more than a dozen rushed to the airport, while residents reported hearing two huge explosions.

Saudi Arabia’s civil aviation authority said the 12 people killed include four Saudi nationals, two Bangladeshis, one American, one Egyptian, one Jordanian, one Syrian, one Palestinian and one Sudanese national.

It also reported 309 had been injured, with some in serious condition.

All flights to Riyadh had either been diverted or cancelled, with only a helicopter hovering over the airport at one point, aviation tracker Flightradar shows.

The British embassy told citizens to avoid the airport, saying there had been a ‘serious incident’, and the US embassy warned citizens to stay away.

The Houthis have not issued a statement about the attack but have claimed responsibility for the incidents earlier in the week.

The airport has already been attacked twice this week, leaving four people dead and others wounded, and badly damaging an aircraft.

On Thursday, a missile strike at the airport set fire to a commercial aircraft belonging to Saudi state carrier Saudia Airlines.

The plane had been parked at the terminal, which is roughly 20 miles north from the capital, and is thought to have been empty.

Three Saudi citizens were killed, with Saudia Airlines confirming one was Captain Hamoud Ali Alkalthami.

A strike on the airport on Wednesday killed a Sudanese national.

In separate strikes, Saudi officials said debris from an intercepted missile had hit a school and medical complex in Riyadh.

The strikes follow the reignition of the Yemeni civil war, a conflict that began in 2014 when the militant group attempted to overthrow the country’s government, which is backed by a Saudi Arabian-led military coalition.

The Houthi rebels say they are attacking Saudi Arabia for supporting Yemen’s government, while the Saudis maintain they are only helping the UN-recognised government retake territory.

The Saudis have sought support from the US and other allies as its airports, military facilities and oil infrastructure have come under attack.

Officials said US assistance has included intelligence sharing, target identification and planning for the latest offensive.

The Saudi and Omani foreign ministers spoke by phone about the importance of ‘supporting diplomatic solutions to de-escalate tensions’ in the region, the kingdom said Saturday.

Oman, which lies across the Strait of Hormuz from Iran, has played a mediator role at times in the region.

As regional chaos deepens, the kingdom has also requested urgent logistical and defensive support from allies such as Turkey and Pakistan to reverse Houthi gains near the strategic Red Sea entrance.

Media reports indicate Syria is even weighing military aid to assist the Saudis, though Syrian presidential advisers have since denied any plans to deploy troops.

The attacks have prompted a number of carriers to suspend or cancel services to the Saudi capital, shortly before Riyadh is due to host major energy and investment conferences.

Organisers of those conferences said on Saturday they would go ahead as planned, and they sought to reassure attendees of their security.

Yemen’s long-running civil war, which paused with a ceasefire in 2022, has erupted again in recent weeks with the Houthis seizing stretches of the Red Sea coast last month, including along the vital Bab el-Mandeb Strait.

Their threats to shipping and attacks on Saudi cities and infrastructure have drawn the kingdom back in.

This week, Saudi-backed forces launched a counterattack, taking back some areas around the strait.

However, in a war with several front lines, the Houthis have made gains of their own, surrounding Yemen’s third-largest city, Taiz, by taking territory along its main mountain road to Aden.

The fighting, which pits the Houthis against a coalition of Saudi-backed forces under the internationally recognised government, has led to a humanitarian crisis in the poorest Arab state, displacing 200,000 people since the conflict resumed.

One US and one Syrian defence official said Syria was carefully considering options for military support, including defensive aid to protect Saudi Arabia from attacks, or an offensive deployment to help take the fight to the Houthis.

In response to a request for comment to the Syrian foreign ministry, a diplomat said Syria stood firmly with Saudi Arabia but that its focus was on domestic priorities such as recovery from its own civil war.

Nato member Turkey said on Wednesday it was sending mainly defensive and technical support to the kingdom to help in the fight against the Houthis.

A Turkish official said this was expected to take the form of military equipment, intelligence sharing and weapons systems.

Man dies after being mauled by tiger at Yorkshire zoo when he ‘leapt into enclosure’ in front of…

Man mauled to death by tiger at Yorkshire zoo ‘asked for photo moments before he climbed into…

Furore as Marine commander who liberated the Falklands says: Machine-gun the migrants’ boats

David Cameron makes a splash as he enjoys cold plunge at the beach with friends to mark the start of…

Communist pro-Palestine protesters are arrested for criminal damage after climbing on Battle of…

British double gold Olympian is questioned by police over fatal crash that Paris Saint-Germain…

Trump tells Ukraine to ‘get a new leader’ as he lashes out at Zelensky over diesel ‘gift’ to Putin

Christa Pike is discharged from hospital after surviving botched execution attempt

Labour politicians received £300,000 freebies from Manchester City and the United Arab Emirates…

Moment HS2 night-shift workers fire a powerful air rifle inside workshop – as five are sacked from…

Boy, 15, was stabbed three times by masked men who also knifed his father in unprovoked midnight…

Countryfile farmer who died suddenly aged 35 admitted his business was £1m in debt and he found it…

Inside whites-only South African enclave where anyone with a criminal record is banned – as…

That’s not much of a welcome, TV commentator quips as rowdy rugby fans boo Harry – while Sussex…

Sara Sharif’s grandfather wins custody of her five siblings in Pakistan where they were taken by…

Kemi Badenoch says the Conservatives are ready for a Christmas general election as speculation…

Houthis warn against using Saudi airports after attack killed 12Comments are subject to our House rules and TermsNewest{{#isModerationStatus}}{{moderationStatus}}

No one seems to have shared their thoughts on this topic yetLeave a comment so your voice will be heard first.

{{upVotes}}{{downVotes}}{{#replies.comments}}{{^isLast}}{{initials}}{{userAlias}}, United Kingdom, {{formattedDateAndTime}}{{message}}

{{upVotes}}{{downVotes}}{{/isLast}}{{#isLast}}{{initials}}{{userAlias}}, United Kingdom, {{formattedDateAndTime}}{{message}}

{{upVotes}}{{downVotes}}{{/isLast}}{{/replies.comments}}{{/replies.totalCount}}{{^replies.totalCount}}{{initials}}{{userAlias}}, United Kingdom, {{formattedDateAndTime}}{{message}}

{{upVotes}}{{downVotes}}{{/replies.totalCount}}{{/isComment}}The opinions and views expressed in the comments section are solely those of the individual users and do not represent or reflect the opinions, views, or positions of MailOnline. MailOnline does not endorse, support, or verify the accuracy of any user-generated content.Terms|Privacy|FeedbackOldest{{#isModerationStatus}}{{moderationStatus}}