Deadly strike shuts down Riyadh’s main international airport
Constantvpn.com – King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh has suspended operations after an attack that killed at least 12 people and wounded 309 others, Saudi authorities said. The incident has disrupted air travel across the Saudi capital, with inbound flights cancelled or redirected and several regional carriers halting services.
The Saudi Civil Aviation Authority said those killed included four Saudi citizens and two Bangladeshi nationals. One citizen each from Egypt, Jordan, Palestine, Sudan, Syria and the United States also died.
Emergency vehicles were sent to the airport as authorities responded to the casualties. Medical staff were also asked to report to hospitals amid what one medical source described as a major emergency.
“We were told we are dealing with a ‘serious emergency situation’.”
Passengers describe panic inside the terminal
A witness who had been in the domestic terminal said gate 401 was struck. The person described seeing injured people nearby as passengers and airport users fled the area.
“Everyone was running.”
Foreign embassies issued security warnings after the attack. The US embassy said it was aware of attacks and urged Americans to stay away from the airport area. British nationals were advised by the UK Foreign Office to avoid the airport until it is declared secure and to follow instructions issued by Saudi authorities.
Flight-tracking information showed that services heading for Riyadh were either diverted or cancelled. Kuwait Airways was among Gulf carriers that announced cancellations, citing the security situation.
Further incident reported in eastern Saudi Arabia
The Saudi-led coalition fighting Yemen’s Houthi movement said another projectile landed near King Fahd International Airport in Dammam, in eastern Saudi Arabia. No casualty figure for that incident was included in the initial announcement.
The events follow a series of recent attacks involving Riyadh airport. Authorities had said the previous day that three Saudi citizens, including a pilot, were killed in two attacks on the airport. Three additional people died in Houthi attacks targeting two Saudi airports on 6 and 7 October.
The Houthis, who are backed by Iran, have previously claimed responsibility for attacks against Saudi infrastructure and aviation facilities. Their campaign has placed airports, energy sites and shipping routes under renewed pressure as fighting in Yemen intensifies.
Conflict in Yemen drives regional escalation
The latest suspected attack comes during a sharp deterioration in fighting between Yemen’s Saudi-backed government forces and the Houthis, who hold much of the country’s north-west. The group says it is targeting Saudi Arabia because of Riyadh’s support for Yemen’s internationally recognised government during the civil war.
Tensions increased after Houthi forces captured strategically significant parts of Yemen’s Red Sea coastline in a rapid offensive. Among the locations involved was the port of Mokha, close to the Bab al-Mandab Strait.
The strait is a narrow passage at the southern end of the Red Sea and is important to international maritime trade. Its location makes it a critical route for vessels moving between the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aden and wider global shipping lanes. Yemeni forces aligned with the government have since said they secured the waterway.
The Saudi-led coalition was established in 2015, when Arab states joined efforts to prevent the Houthis from taking control of Yemen from the internationally recognised government. The war that followed brought years of air strikes, ground fighting and a humanitarian catastrophe in Yemen, with hundreds of thousands of deaths linked to the conflict and its consequences.
Ceasefire collapse and expanding targets
A temporary ceasefire was arranged in 2022 after prolonged hostilities. Although it reduced large-scale fighting for a period, the informal truce began weakening in July.
The Houthis subsequently announced what they called a maritime embargo against Saudi Arabia. Missile and drone attacks then targeted Saudi airports, oil facilities and tankers operating in the Red Sea. The group has said the campaign is retaliation for what it describes as a long-running Saudi blockade and for an air strike on Sanaa airport.
The closure of Riyadh’s main airport illustrates how the Yemen conflict can affect civilian travel well beyond the battlefield. King Khalid International Airport is a major gateway for the Saudi capital, and its suspension immediately affects passengers, airline schedules, airport workers and connecting routes across the region.
Authorities have not indicated when normal operations at the airport will resume. Travellers scheduled to fly through Riyadh face continuing uncertainty while security measures and emergency responses remain in place.
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