The Houthis have sharply escalated their campaign against Saudi Arabia since early October, and the strikes now reach the kingdom’s airports and energy infrastructure. On Saturday 3 October, the Houthis said they hit an Aramco facility in Riyadh, and smoke and fire were seen near the site. A coalition spokesman called the claim “misleading”, and Saudi Arabia said it intercepted missiles fired toward Yanbu and Taif in late September without damage to Aramco sites. Few claims on either side have been independently verified.
The deadliest single incident was the attack on Riyadh’s King Khalid International Airport on Saturday 10 October. The Houthis claimed a missile strike that killed 12 people, including four Saudi nationals, and wounded 309. Other outlets put the toll at 13 or 14 dead and more than 300 injured, so the figure is not settled. The US State Department confirmed that an American citizen was among the dead, and the coalition spokesman called the attacks war crimes. Riyadh was targeted again on Monday 12 October, the third day in a row.
The aviation fallout has been widespread. Saudi authorities extended the closure of Riyadh’s airport through 17 October. Lufthansa Group cancelled flights through 16 October, and Air France-KLM extended its suspension through the end of the month. Delta delayed its Atlanta-Riyadh launch, scheduled for 23 October. On 10 October, at least 291 flights at the airport were cancelled in 24 hours, and President Trump was reported to be weighing whether to join the fight against the Houthis.
The conflict then moved to Saudi Arabia’s oil sector. On Tuesday 13 October, after the Houthis called Aramco sites a “legitimate target” following a coalition strike on an oil facility in Sanaa, they hit an administrative building belonging to Aramco in Dhahran. No injuries were reported there, but Saudi authorities said a limited fire broke out and that debris from intercepted missiles and drones injured four people in Riyadh. Saudi Arabia’s cabinet, chaired by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, said the Houthis would face “consequences”.
The group shows no sign of backing down. On Wednesday 14 October, the Houthis vowed to keep attacking Saudi airports and oil facilities, hours after the Dhahran strike. Today’s news roundups (16 October) also list a Houthi missile attack on the Yemeni presidential palace that killed five people, according to a minister. I could not confirm the date of that attack.
The humanitarian toll inside Yemen is growing. On 15 October, the UN’s World Food Programme said about 800,000 people have been cut off from aid by fighting between Houthi forces and Saudi-backed forces, with the city of Taiz encircled by the Houthis. The situation is changing quickly, so casualty counts and airport closure dates may have changed since this was written.
