Saudi Arabia says 12 dead, 309 hurt in Riyadh airport attack

Sara Gharaibeh and Kateryna Kadabashy, Bloomberg News on Oct 10, 2026

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Saudi Arabia said 12 people were killed and 309 were injured Saturday in an attack on the Riyadh airport, the deadliest incident in an intensifying conflict with Yemen’s Houthis.

Saudi civil aviation authorities said that airport operations were suspended temporarily while the damage was being assessed. Some of the injured were in critical condition.

The U.S. warned its citizens to avoid the airport in the Saudi capital. One of the people killed was an American, according to Saudi Arabia. The U.K. described the latest incident as “serious” and airlines including Kuwait’s national carrier scrapped flights.

President Donald Trump said he plans to speak with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. “What happened in Saudi Arabia is not acceptable,” he told reporters Saturday evening on his return to Washington from a political rally. Earlier in the day, Trump said the U.S. may consider whether to join the Saudi-led coalition fighting the Houthi rebels.

Some 260 flights to and from Riyadh were canceled Saturday and another 219 were delayed, according to data from air traffic monitor Flightradar24.

Riyadh’s King Khalid International Airport issued an alert to passengers asking that they contact airlines directly and confirm the status of their flights before heading to the airport.

Three Saudi nationals were killed in an attack on the airport on Thursday and others were injured, while a Saudia Airlines aircraft was damaged, the Saudi authorities said. Earlier attacks this week killed one person at the capital’s main airport and two at Abha airport. Both strikes were claimed by the Iran-backed Houthi militant group in Yemen.

The Houthis are facing a ground offensive from a Saudi-led coalition in Yemen. Soldiers from the internationally recognized Yemeni government and the Saudi air force are working to take back territory won by the militant group over the past month near the strategic Bab el-Mandeb Strait.

The offensive began on Sunday and the coalition says it has gained ground, including retaking the Red Sea port city of Mokha. The Saudi-led group says it aims to “eliminate” the Houthis, who control territory that is home to around 70% of Yemen’s population, including the capital, Sanaa.

Trump, asked by reporters whether the U.S. would join the Saudi attacks on Houthi rebels, responded, “We may. We’re going to look at it.”

Up to now, the Trump administration has been reluctant to get more involved in the Saudi offensive.

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(With assistance from Susanne Barton, Adveith Nair and Catherine Lucey.)