On Saturday, King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh faced another attack, according to two regional officials, prompting a complete shutdown of air traffic and sparking evacuations throughout the terminal.
This assault follows a strike just two days earlier that claimed three Saudi lives, including a pilot. The officials, who requested anonymity, told The Associated Press they were not cleared to speak publicly about the event.
One official reported that security teams swiftly evacuated passengers and staff from the complex as the incident unfolded. A second official confirmed that authorities grounded all arriving and departing flights while they evaluated the situation.
Hours later, the airport released a short advisory urging travelers to confirm their flight status with airlines before heading to the facility.
The disruption quickly rippled across Riyadh, catching locals’ attention. Ahmed Sayed, a city resident, told The Associated Press that the blasts echoed throughout the capital.
“I heard at least two loud explosions that rocked the capital,” Sayed said.
Saturday’s strike marks the newest episode in an unusual week of assaults on the primary international gateway. The uptick in attacks follows a major Saudi‑led coalition offensive against Iran‑backed Houthi rebels in neighboring Yemen.
The Houthis claimed responsibility for several earlier strikes, such as Wednesday’s attack that killed a Sudanese national and injured eight others. Yet by Saturday afternoon, the group remained silent about the latest explosions in Riyadh.
These airport attacks unfold amid a rapidly escalating ground war in Yemen between Houthi forces and the Saudi‑backed Yemeni government. Coalition aircraft have flown continuous sorties to back government troops, aiming to reverse the Houthis’ territorial gains along the Red Sea coast.
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