Houthi Missiles Hit Riyadh: Explosions, Flight Chaos
Explosions rocked Saudi Arabia's capital Riyadh on October 8, 2026, disrupting flights at King Khalid International Airport as Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthi movement claimed a fresh ballistic missile attack on the airport. The Saudi-led coalition said it intercepted two ballistic missiles fired toward Riyadh and another toward Khamis Mushait.
What happened on October 8
Multiple loud booms were heard across Riyadh on Thursday morning, including a large blast near the international airport, according to a witness cited by the Associated Press. Flights were halted and passengers were asked to evacuate while fire and ambulance crews were deployed. The flight tracker FlightRadar24 reported that the airport had "closed again," with no landings or takeoffs for over an hour that afternoon. CNN verified images showing smoke over a terminal and what appeared to be a damaged Saudi aircraft, and two sources told AFP at least one plane was severely damaged.
Several multinational companies in Riyadh's King Abdullah Financial District told staff to work from home after the blasts, Reuters reported, and some schools told parents to shelter in place, though no public alert was issued.
Each side's account
The Houthis, through military spokesperson Yahya Saree, said they fired a ballistic missile at King Khalid International Airport and claimed it disrupted air traffic. In a later statement, the group said it had targeted Riyadh's airport a third time on Thursday, along with Najran Airport and an airbase in Khamis Mushait. The Houthis warned international airlines "for the last time" about operating in Saudi airspace, and told people in Saudi Arabia to stay away from oil facilities, which they described as targets for their forces.
The Saudi-led coalition, through spokesperson Maj. Gen. Turki al-Malki, said its forces intercepted and destroyed two ballistic missiles launched toward Riyadh and one fired toward Khamis Mushait. Saudi authorities have not directly confirmed whether the airports were hit. Saudi civil defense authorities said debris from an interception damaged a kindergarten and a medical complex, with no casualties mentioned.
Airlines halt Riyadh flights; three killed this week
Thursday's events followed deadly attacks this week. Saudi Arabia's General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA) said three people were killed and 36 injured in Houthi-claimed strikes on October 6 and 7 on King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh and Abha International Airport. At Abha, two residents — one Moroccan and one Algerian national — were killed and 28 injured; at Riyadh, one Sudanese national was killed and eight injured.
In response, Lufthansa Group suspended flights to Riyadh through October 16. Air India and Akasa Air canceled all Riyadh flights until October 10 — Air India's Delhi-Riyadh flight returned to Delhi on Thursday. IndiGo canceled all Riyadh flights until October 9. The US Embassy warned of potential airspace closures and told US government employees not to travel within 32 kilometers (20 miles) of the Yemen border.
Context: a reignited war
The escalation comes as Saudi-backed Yemeni government forces press ahead with Operation "Dawn of Yemen," an offensive aimed at rolling back Houthi gains, including territory seized a month ago along Yemen's western Red Sea coast and on the Bab el-Mandeb Strait — a key waterway for global oil trade. The coalition said it had struck more than 80 Houthi military sites across Yemen and destroyed a missile launch platform in Sanaa. Reuters has reported the conflict is now an overspill of the US-Iran war, with Saudi Arabia seeking support from allied nations and Pakistan confirming it has troops in the kingdom. The war dates back to 2015, but this week's strikes mark the deadliest Houthi attacks on Saudi soil in the current phase of fighting.
The strikes have had an immediate economic impact, with crude oil prices jumping amid fears of a wider regional conflict. Britain, India, and the United Arab Emirates have condemned the attacks on the civilian airports. With the Houthis promising further attacks and the Saudi-led coalition continuing retaliatory strikes across Yemen, the fighting shows no sign of easing, and the risk of the war drawing in more regional states continues to grow.
Watch: CNN video report on the Houthi attacks on Riyadh airport and the resulting flight disruptions
Music in this post's reel: Kevin MacLeod - Hitman (incompetech.com), licensed under CC BY 3.0
Sources
- Reuters: Booms and flight disruptions in Riyadh as Saudi-Houthi war escalates
- CNN: Iran-backed Houthis expand attacks on Riyadh as Yemen war escalates
- CNBC TV18: Houthi attacks on Saudi airports kill 3, injure 36 as Yemen fighting escalates
- Daily Sabah: Plane damage reported as Houthis target Riyadh airport again