What happened
According to Dawn, Saudi Arabia's civil aviation authority announced that Abha International Airport and King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh were targeted in attacks on Tuesday and Wednesday. Yemen's Houthi movement claimed responsibility for the strikes, stating that they launched a ballistic missile at the capital's primary airport as part of an escalating conflict with Saudi Arabia.
The Saudi-led military coalition supporting Yemen's government stated that it intercepted the ballistic missile fired at Riyadh and destroyed the launch platform used in the attack. Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree claimed on X that the strike accurately disrupted air traffic in Riyadh. The Houthis also reported launching drone and missile attacks against Abha airport, King Khalid Air Base in Khamis Mushait, and a military supply convoy near the airport in Aden.
Key facts
According to details published by Dawn, the key facts surrounding the recent attacks and regional escalation include:
- Three individuals were killed in the Saudi airport attacks, including an Egyptian national and an Algerian national at Abha airport, and a Sudanese national at the airport in Riyadh.
- A total of 36 people were wounded in the strikes, with injuries at King Khalid International Airport including five Saudi citizens, two Egyptians, and one Pakistani.
- Transport authorities reported that a missile landing near the runway at Aden airport forced an incoming flight from Cairo to divert to Jeddah in Saudi Arabia.
- Clashes in western Yemen resulted in at least 62 combatant deaths, including 37 Houthis, while a separate Houthi missile attack in Taiz injured five civilians.
- The United Nations stated that the renewed hostilities have displaced more than 200,000 people within Yemen.
Why it matters
According to Dawn, the attacks follow the re-eruption of Yemen's civil war in July after a four-year ceasefire, with Houthi forces seizing extensive coastal territory along the Red Sea. In response, Yemen's internationally recognized government announced a counter-offensive to retake all Houthi-controlled land, backed by Saudi-led coalition airstrikes. The renewed violence has frequently disrupted airspace over Saudi Arabia, endangered civilian air travel, and intensified a humanitarian crisis that has left the majority of Yemen's population dependent on aid.
Source: Dawn - Home · Published October 07, 2026 · Photo by Jahanzeb Ahsan on Unsplash