3 people killed in attacks on Riyadh and Abha airports in Saudi Arabia

Three people were killed and 36 others injured in separate attacks targeting Abha International Airport and King Khalid International Airport in the Saudi capital on Tuesday and Wednesday (October 6–7, 2026), according to Saudi Arabia’s General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA).

At Abha International Airport in the southwest, near the Yemen border, two female residents—a Moroccan woman and an Algerian woman—were killed. Twenty-eight people were injured, with conditions ranging from minor to serious or critical. The injured included Saudi citizens as well as a Bangladeshi resident and a Filipino resident.

At King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh, a Sudanese resident was killed and eight people were injured. Those hurt included five Saudi citizens, two Egyptian residents, and one Pakistani resident; their injuries also ranged from minor to serious. All of the wounded were taken to hospitals for treatment. The attacks caused some property damage at both facilities.

GACA said emergency response teams and relevant authorities activated established protocols immediately. The authority is coordinating with security agencies to assess the damage, verify the safety of airport facilities, and take measures to protect passengers and maintain the security of civil aviation operations.

Yemen’s Houthi movement claimed responsibility for the strikes, saying its forces used ballistic missiles and drones against the airports. A Houthi military spokesman stated that the attacks hit their targets and disrupted air traffic.

Saudi-led coalition forces said they intercepted a ballistic missile north of Riyadh and later destroyed the launch platform used in the attack on the capital in a strike on Sanaa. Coalition spokesman Major General Turki al-Maliki said the attacks “will not go unpunished.” Coalition forces subsequently struck dozens of Houthi military sites in Yemen.

The incidents mark an escalation in the renewed fighting in Yemen between Iran-aligned Houthi forces and the Saudi-backed, internationally recognized government. The United Arab Emirates and other regional parties condemned the targeting of civilian infrastructure.

The front page of the Saudi Gazette on Thursday, October 8, 2026, led with the story under the headline “3 killed, 36 injured in attacks on Riyadh and Abha airports.”