Multiple Injuries Reported Following Blast at Riyadh’s King Khalid International Airport

Reports indicate that several individuals were injured in an incident at Riyadh’s international airport, occurring shortly after Yemen’s Houthi rebels claimed responsibility for two prior strikes on the facility.

King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh was evacuated after witnesses reported hearing a loud explosion on Saturday, according to two international news agencies.

Reuters, citing an eyewitness, reported that more than a dozen ambulances raced to the scene. Saudi officials have yet to issue a statement, and the airport advised travelers to verify flight status with their airlines before heading to the terminal.

The incident follows a day after officials announced that three Saudi nationals, among them a pilot, were killed in two separate strikes attributed to Iran‑backed Houthi forces.

Additionally, three individuals lost their lives in Houthi‑targeted assaults on two Saudi airports on October 6 and 7.

A hospital source informed AFP that dozens of people sustained injuries in the suspected Saturday attack.

Although no official confirmation of an attack has been issued, several Western embassies in Saudi Arabia have urged their nationals to avoid the airport.

Multiple Gulf carriers announced cancellations of flights to and from the airport, with Kuwait Airways citing the prevailing security situation.

Flight tracking service Flightradar24 indicates that all inbound flights to Riyadh have been either diverted or cancelled.

The suspected strike occurs amid a noticeable escalation in hostilities between Yemen’s Saudi‑backed government forces and the Houthis, who dominate much of the nation’s northwestern region.

The Houthis assert that their attacks on Saudi Arabia are motivated by the kingdom’s backing of the Yemeni government in the ongoing civil war.

Tensions intensified after the Houthis captured key sections of the Red Sea coastline in a swift offensive.

This included the port of Mokha situated on the Bab al‑Mandab Strait—the narrowest segment of the Red Sea and a critical chokepoint for worldwide maritime traffic. Pro‑government Yemeni forces later claimed to have secured the southern approach to the strait.

In 2015, a Saudi‑led coalition was established when Arab nations united to prevent the Houthis from overthrowing Yemen’s internationally recognized government.

A tentative ceasefire was arranged in 2022 following years of aerial bombardments and ground combat that claimed hundreds of thousands of lives and precipitated one of the globe’s most severe humanitarian emergencies.

However, the informal truce started to deteriorate in July.

The Houthis declared a maritime embargo on Saudi Arabia and launched missile and drone strikes targeting Saudi airports, oil installations, and Red Sea tankers, asserting that the actions were retaliation for what they characterized as a prolonged Saudi blockade and an earlier airstrike on Sana’a airport.

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