Highlights
- The Foreign Office has told Britons to avoid Riyadh’s King Khalid airport.
- Doctors say several of them were pilgrims travelling to Mecca.
- The Saudi-led coalition blamed Yemen’s Houthis and called the strike a “war crime”.
- The US, Canadian, German and Spanish embassies have told citizens to avoid the airport.
TWO Bangladeshi nationals were among 12 people killed when a strike hit King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh on Saturday (10). Doctors said several pilgrims travelling to Mecca were among the wounded.
Saudi Arabia’s civil aviation authority said 309 people were injured, some seriously. Four Saudi citizens were among the dead. The others were one each from the US, Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Palestine and Sudan.
The Saudi-led coalition blamed Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi movement and called the attack a “full-fledged war crime”.
A diplomatic source told AFP the airport was hit by a missile. The Houthis had not claimed responsibility for Saturday’s strike at the time of writing. They did claim attacks on the airport on Thursday (8), which killed three people and damaged a plane.
It was the deadliest attack in the kingdom since May 2015. That year, an Islamic State suicide bombing killed 21 worshippers at a Shia mosque in Qatif.
A passenger said they saw the strike hit the domestic terminal. “I was on gate 403,” the witness told AFP. “I saw 401 hit, I saw injured in front of my eyes. Everyone was running.”
Flights were suspended, and damage assessments are ongoing. Health officials ordered a rare mass call-up of doctors to deal with what a medical source described as a “serious emergency situation”.
Travel warnings
The Foreign Office has told Britons to avoid Riyadh’s King Khalid airport until it is secure and to confirm flights before travelling, with British Umrah pilgrims among those likely affected.
The US, Canadian, German and Spanish embassies have told their citizens to avoid the airport. A senior Western diplomat said several embassies have banned staff from using it for the next week.
Schools in Riyadh have moved to remote learning for the whole week, the second time in a month.
Pakistan and US respond
Pakistan’s prime minister Shehbaz Sharif condemned the “heinous attack”. He reaffirmed Islamabad’s commitment to Saudi Arabia’s security under the two countries’ defence pact.
Asked whether he would join Saudi strikes on the Houthis, US president Donald Trump said: “We may.”
He called the attack “not acceptable” and said he would speak to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. US media have reported that Washington previously turned down Saudi requests for military help against the group.
What happens next
The attack comes amid an unprecedented wave of Houthi strikes on Saudi Arabia. It follows the collapse in July of a four-year, UN-brokered truce in Yemen’s civil war. The wider Middle East war has already disrupted energy supplies and markets across the world.
In Yemen, government forces backed by Riyadh are reportedly advancing on Houthi-held areas around the Bab al-Mandab strait, a key route for Red Sea oil and cargo. The Houthis say they have repelled the attacks. Neither side’s claims can be independently verified.
The strike also falls on the eve of Riyadh’s convention and entertainment season, which includes its flagship investment conference attended by world leaders and business figures.
(with inputs from agencies)
Andy Burnham attends the opening speeches on the first day of the Labour Party Conference at Liverpool Experience Campus on September 27, 2026 in Liverpool, England. (Photo by Ian Forsyth/Getty Images)
