Saudi Arabia reports three killed and 36 injured in attacks on two airports

Saudi Arabia’s General Authority of Civil Aviation said on Wednesday, October 7, that attacks on Abha International Airport and King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh on Tuesday and Wednesday killed three people and injured 36. The authority said it was assessing damage and checking the safety of the facilities, leaving the full effect on airport operations unclear.

The dead were two women residents at Abha, one Moroccan and one Algerian, and a Sudanese resident at the Riyadh airport, according to the authority’s account reported by Saudi Gazette. The attacks injured 28 people at Abha and eight in Riyadh. The authority said all 36 injured people had been taken to hospitals for treatment.

Who was affected at Abha and Riyadh airports

At Abha, the injured included Saudi citizens and foreign residents, among them a Bangladeshi resident and a Filipino resident, Saudi Gazette reported. The report did not provide a complete breakdown of the 28 injured people or identify the two women who were killed by name. It described injuries across the two airports as ranging from minor to serious.

At King Khalid International Airport, the eight injured people included five Saudi citizens, two Egyptian residents and one Pakistani resident, according to Saudi Gazette’s account of the aviation authority’s statement. The authority reported some property damage from the attacks. The available accounts do not identify any of those killed or injured as airport workers.

What Saudi aviation authorities said about airport safety

In a statement carried by the Saudi Press Agency and quoted by Saudi Gazette, the General Authority of Civil Aviation said it was coordinating with other authorities to assess damage, verify the safety of airport facilities and take measures to protect passengers and maintain safe aviation operations. Its account leaves open what the assessments found and whether services were subsequently changed at either airport.

Al Jazeera separately reported the authority’s total of three deaths and 36 injuries and said it was working with security authorities to assess damage and protect passengers and workers. Neither of the supplied accounts establishes a final operational impact. That distinction matters for travellers: a reported attack and an ongoing safety assessment do not, on their own, establish the status of a particular flight.

What is known about responsibility and the wider attacks

Saudi Gazette’s account of the aviation authority’s statement did not name a party responsible for the attacks. Al Jazeera reported that the Houthis said they had targeted the international airports in Riyadh and Abha. Responsibility for these attacks should therefore be understood as a claim by the group, rather than as a finding attributed to the Saudi aviation authority.

The attacks came amid other reported strikes involving airports in the region. In a separate October 7 report, Al Jazeera said Yemen’s internationally recognised government accused the Houthis of firing missiles and drones at Aden International Airport. The Houthis said they had targeted Saudi military supplies at a camp near that airport. Those differing accounts concern the Aden attack; they do not settle responsibility for the casualties reported at Abha and Riyadh.

Al Jazeera also reported a Saudi-led coalition spokesperson’s statement that a ballistic missile had been intercepted north of Riyadh. The report attributed the interception to the spokesperson and did not independently establish it. Al Jazeera described Aden airport as a main international gateway for parts of Yemen outside Houthi control, giving the airport attacks a wider civilian aviation context.