A Pakistani national was killed and 11 people injured on Sunday when a projectile struck King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh for the second time in as many days, Saudi officials confirmed — capping a 48-hour assault that has shaken the Gulf region and drawn urgent responses from Washington and London. [1]
What Happened at the Airport
Saudi Arabia's civil aviation authority announced that the victim was a Pakistani resident, while a Saudi military spokesman said the projectile ignited a fire inside Passenger Hall No. 4. [1] Maj. Gen. Turki al-Maliki, spokesman for the Saudi-led military coalition, said air defences had intercepted a missile near the airport, though authorities were simultaneously dealing with the blaze caused by what he described as an "unknown projectile." [1]
The Sunday strike followed a far deadlier attack the previous day — Saturday's assault killed 13 people and injured 308 others, making it the deadliest single strike on a Gulf Arab country since the war between Israel, the United States and Iran began in February. [1] Among Saturday's dead were four Saudi nationals, two Bangladeshi nationals, and one person each from the United States, Jordan, Palestine, Syria, Sudan and Egypt. [1] The Indian embassy in Riyadh subsequently confirmed that an Indian man had also died from injuries sustained in that attack. [1]
Houthis Claim Responsibility and Threaten More Strikes
Yemen's Houthi movement claimed responsibility for both attacks, saying it had deployed a combination of ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and drones against Saudi targets over the preceding 24 hours. [1] Houthi military spokesman Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree said the group had also struck oil facilities and Dammam airport in eastern Saudi Arabia. [1]
Saree vowed to continue what he called "escalating operations deep inside Saudi Arabia," explicitly warning that all Saudi airports were potential targets — with the sole exception of airports in the holy cities of Mecca and Medina. [1] The Houthis have framed their campaign as retaliation for Saudi Arabia's support of Yemeni government forces in the country's ongoing civil war, as well as for an earlier airstrike on Sanaa's airport. [1]
The group also issued a direct warning to commercial carriers and passengers, urging airlines and travellers to avoid Saudi Arabian airports and airspace entirely. [1]
International Condemnation and Potential Military Response
The Saudi-led coalition condemned Saturday's strike as a "war crime" and vowed to respond, though the nature and timing of any retaliation had not been specified as of Sunday. [1]
International reaction was swift. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio condemned the attacks and confirmed that an American citizen was among those killed on Saturday. [1] President Donald Trump said the United States would "make a decision" and "move very quickly" on whether to conduct strikes against the Houthis, though he stopped short of announcing any immediate military action. [1]
In the United Kingdom, Defence Secretary Wes Streeting said Britain could "potentially" provide additional support to Saudi Arabia, while Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband described himself as "appalled" by the strikes. [1] The UK Foreign Office has advised against all travel to parts of Saudi Arabia, including any area within 10 kilometres of the Yemeni border, and other Western embassies have issued similar warnings to their nationals in the region. [1]
A Widening Regional Conflict
The strikes fit into a broader pattern of escalation that has intensified since the outbreak of direct conflict between Israel, the United States and Iran earlier in 2026. [1] The Houthis, who are aligned with Iran, have previously targeted shipping lanes and Israeli-linked vessels in the Red Sea, but the consecutive strikes on Riyadh's main international airport represent a significant escalation in both ambition and lethality.
The fact that a major civilian hub — one handling international flights from across Asia, Europe and the wider Arab world — has now been struck twice within 48 hours raises acute questions about the vulnerability of Gulf infrastructure and the effectiveness of Saudi air defence systems. Saturday's casualty toll of 13 dead and more than 300 injured from a single attack underscores the scale of risk now facing civilian aviation in the region.
What to Watch Next
Several pressure points will determine how this crisis develops in the coming days. The Saudi-led coalition's promised response has yet to materialise; its form — whether airstrikes on Houthi-controlled territory, a ground operation, or some combination — will set the tone for the next phase of the conflict. Trump's language about moving "very quickly" on a decision to strike the Houthis suggests Washington may be weighing direct military involvement, which would mark a significant escalation of U.S. engagement. [1] Whether the UK follows through on Streeting's suggestion of expanded support will also be closely watched. [1]
For travellers and airlines, the Houthi threat against all Saudi airports — and the precedent now set by two successful strikes in two days — means the commercial aviation calculus in the region has fundamentally changed, at least until air defences are demonstrably reinforced or the military situation shifts.