A passenger terminal at King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh was struck by an unidentified projectile overnight, according to Saudi authorities cited by 1News. The attack caused a fire in Terminal 4 for domestic flights and left at least one person dead and 11 others injured. The incident followed a devastating missile strike on the exact same facility just 24 hours prior—an assault that claimed 12 lives and wounded some 300 people, making it the deadliest attack in a Gulf Arab nation since the wider regional conflict began.
The India Embassy in Riyadh confirmed that an Indian citizen who sustained injuries in the initial strike later succumbed to their wounds, bringing the death toll from Saturday’s attack to 13, 1News reported.
Escalation and Attribution Across the Region
The Iran-backed Houthi rebel movement in Yemen claimed responsibility for both the Riyadh airport strikes and a concurrent attack on King Fahd International Airport in Dammam, located on the Persian Gulf near Bahrain and Qatar. Houthi military spokesman Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree vowed that the group would continue its operations deep inside Saudi Arabia, issuing a stark warning to international carriers.
“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,” the Houthis said in a statement circulated on social media, as noted by The Guardian. Several international airlines have responded by suspending flights to the kingdom for varying periods.
International Repercussions and Potential US Involvement
Regional officials revealed that Saudi Arabia is currently running low on missile interceptors and has reached out to France, Britain, Pakistan, and Egypt for air defense support. At the same time, CNN noted that Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi spoke with his Saudi counterpart, offering assistance to facilitate dialogue between Riyadh and the Houthi administration.
Ahmed Nagi, a senior analyst for Yemen at the International Crisis Group, cautioned that the ongoing strategy of mutual pressure carries significant risks. Rather than forcing Riyadh to scale back its operations, strikes on critical domestic infrastructure may only harden the kingdom’s resolve to press forward with its military campaign.
