Suspected Houthi attack on Riyadh airport kills 12, wounds hundreds

On October 10, a suspected Houthi strike at Riyadh's international airport resulted in 12 deaths and 309 injuries, with victims including four Saudi citizens, two Bangladeshis, one U.S. citizen, one Egyptian, one Jordanian, one Syrian, one Palestinian, and one Sudanese. Foreign embassies advised their citizens to avoid the airport following the attack, which prompted the Saudi health ministry to call upon doctors in a rare mass deployment to handle the emergency.

The Iranian-backed Houthis have intensified their assaults on the kingdom, targeting airports, oil facilities, and tankers since the truce in their conflict with Yemen's Saudi-backed government broke down in July. Saudi civil aviation officials confirmed the attack, while a diplomatic source attributed it to a Houthi missile. Witness accounts described the chaos as passengers fled the scene.

Saudi authorities have not publicly named the Houthis, but a diplomatic source confirmed the attack's origin. The incident occurred as Saudi Arabia prepares to host a major convention and entertainment season, and Yemen's government has declared a counter-offensive against the Houthis in areas they captured last month.