Saudi Arabia's General Authority of Civil Aviation announced on the evening of Sunday, 11 October 2026, that King Fahd International Airport in the city of Dammam, in the east of the country, had been attacked. According to the authority, flights at the airport were temporarily suspended pending a full assessment of the damage, and no figures on casualties or the extent of the damage have yet been released. Yahya Saree, the military spokesman of the Houthis, who are backed by the Islamic Republic, claimed responsibility for the attack on Dammam airport and on two Aramco gas pipeline pumping stations; Saudi officials have not confirmed the claim of an attack on Aramco facilities.
The attack on Dammam came a day after the deadliest attack on Saudi soil in more than a decade. In the missile attack on Riyadh's King Khalid International Airport on Saturday, 10 October, 12 people were killed and 309 wounded, according to figures from Saudi Arabia's civil aviation authority. According to Voice of America, the death toll rose to 13 after an Indian citizen wounded in the attack died. On Sunday, a projectile again struck Terminal 4 of the same airport and started a fire.
An American citizen among those killed in the attack on Riyadh airport
According to Gulf News and Al Jazeera, those killed in Saturday's attack include four Saudi citizens, two Bangladeshis and one citizen each from the United States, Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Palestine and Sudan. Among the wounded are 11 Indian citizens, six Pakistanis and an Omani doctor. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio confirmed that an American citizen had been killed, called the attacks a blatant disregard for civilian life and demanded that the Houthis stop immediately.
US President Donald Trump said that what happened in Saudi Arabia was not acceptable and that Washington was considering joining military action against the Houthis. He added that he would speak with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. According to US media, Washington has already helped with target identification and operational planning for the Saudi-backed forces in Yemen.
The response of Saudi Arabia and the coalition to the Houthis
Turki al-Maliki, spokesman for the Saudi-led coalition, called the attack on Riyadh airport a "full-fledged war crime" and promised a decisive response. According to Voice of America, Saudi Arabia stepped up its airstrikes on Houthi positions in Sanaa, Saada and Taiz on Sunday. The coalition also said it had intercepted a Houthi ballistic missile over Al-Kharj, south-east of Riyadh, and a cruise missile near the city's airport. The United States, Canada and Germany have issued travel warnings for Saudi Arabia, and several airlines have suspended their flights to the country.
The Houthis struck Saudi airports three times in less than 48 hours, and an American citizen is among the dead.
The attacks on Saudi airports come as tension escalates in the Strait of Hormuz, where the Islamic Republic has called the US response to its conditions for reopening the strait insufficient. The European Union has also said that the Islamic Republic has set off a cycle of violence in the region through its proxy forces.
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