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The Saudi General Authority of Civil Aviation announced that 12 people died and 309 were injured when a missile hit a terminal building at King Khalid International Airport in the capital on October 10. The dead included four Saudi citizens, two from Bangladesh and one national each from the United States, Egypt, Jordan, Palestine, Syria and Sudan, according to the authority’s statement. Saudi-led coalition spokesman Major General Turki al-Malki called the strike a cowardly terrorist attack on civilians that amounted to a full-fledged war crime under international humanitarian law and pledged a decisive response in line with that law.
Condemnation of the assault spread rapidly across the region and beyond. United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres said he was deeply shocked by the attacks which he labelled a violation of international law that must cease immediately. UN Special Envoy for Yemen Hans Grundberg described the incident as a grave escalation that threatened regional security and urged the Houthis to stop targeting civilian infrastructure.
The United States strongly denounced the strike after confirming one of its citizens was among the fatalities. Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated that the attacks demonstrated a blatant disregard for innocent civilian life and must stop now. President Donald Trump told reporters the event was not acceptable and indicated he planned to speak with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman while leaving open the possibility of American involvement in a response.
Kuwait’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement describing the strike as a heinous and cowardly attack that represented a flagrant violation of international law. The ministry expressed absolute solidarity with Saudi Arabia and called on the international community to take a firm stance against those targeting civil aviation. Similar messages of support and condemnation came from Egypt, Qatar, Bahrain, Pakistan and the Gulf Cooperation Council.
The attack marked the deadliest on Saudi soil since 2015 and followed two strikes on the same airport earlier in the week that killed three people, the General Authority of Civil Aviation reported. It led to the immediate suspension of all operations at the facility, one of the kingdom’s busiest, with more than 600 flights cancelled as a result. Health authorities activated emergency measures including a mass recall of doctors to treat the wounded, some of whom were in critical condition.
A senior Houthi official appeared to claim responsibility by posting on X that the group had shut down Riyadh international airport, though the militants had not issued a formal statement on the latest incident. The Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen has blamed the Iran-backed group for the assault on the civilian airport. The strike has heightened fears of broader regional escalation amid ongoing conflict in Yemen.
