King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh was evacuated on Saturday after a loud explosion was detected at the facility, according to reports from international news agencies. This incident occurs merely days after Yemen’s Houthi rebels claimed responsibility for two separate attacks on the same airport hub.
Reuters, citing an eyewitness, reported that more than a dozen ambulances rushed to the scene. Saudi authorities have not yet issued an official statement regarding the blast, while airport officials have advised passengers to consult their airlines before traveling to the location.
The attack follows a sharp escalation in violence between the Iran-backed Houthi movement and Saudi-backed government forces in Yemen. On Friday, authorities confirmed that three Saudi nationals, including a pilot, were killed in Houthi strikes the day prior. Additionally, three other individuals lost their lives in attacks on two different Saudi airports on October 6 and 7.
The Houthis have stated that their operations against Saudi infrastructure are retaliatory measures aimed at pressuring Riyadh over its military support for government forces in Yemen’s ongoing civil war. The conflict intensified in recent weeks after Houthi forces captured strategic sections of the Red Sea coastline, including the port of Mokha near the Bab al-Mandab Strait, a critical chokepoint for global shipping.
Yemeni pro-government forces have since declared that they have secured the southern end of the strait. The regional tension traces back to a Saudi-led coalition formed in 2015 to prevent the Houthis from overthrowing Yemen’s internationally recognized government. Although a temporary ceasefire brokered in 2022 helped ease fighting after years of conflict that caused hundreds of thousands of deaths and triggered a severe humanitarian crisis, the truce began to unravel in July.
Since then, the Houthis have imposed a maritime embargo against Saudi Arabia and resumed missile and drone attacks targeting Saudi airports, oil facilities, and tankers in the Red Sea, citing a years-long Saudi blockade and an airstrike on Sanaa airport as justification.
I’m cancelling my flight to Riyadh immediately. Too risky given the recent escalation.
Has anyone confirmed if the recent Houthi claim is accurate yet, or is this unverified?
Another blast at the same airport? The security situation there is deteriorating rapidly.
This is terrifying. How are passengers supposed to feel safe traveling through Riyadh right now?