A Pakistani resident was killed and 11 other people were wounded when a fresh Houthi strike hit Riyadh’s King Khalid International Airport on Sunday, Saudi Arabia’s civil aviation authority said. The Pakistani killed Riyadh airport strike toll only emerged after officials released casualty figures for the Sunday attack, which our earlier report on the airport being struck again as a projectile hit Terminal 4 had covered before any figures were available.
The wounded were taken to several hospitals for treatment, the authority said on X. It added that the attack caused property damage, which officials were still assessing. The strike was the third on the airport in a week, and it came a day after the deadliest attack on Saudi soil in more than a decade.
Pakistani killed Riyadh airport strike: what officials confirmed
The Saudi-led coalition said a projectile struck the airport and started a fire. Air defences also intercepted a missile nearby, it added. Hours earlier, the Houthis had claimed multiple attacks over the previous 24 hours, including on the airport, and had threatened to keep targeting the kingdom’s transit hubs.
Flightradar24 said the authorities extended the airport’s closure by another 24 hours after the strike. AFP journalists and residents in the capital reported hearing several blasts. One resident of the Al-Aarid neighbourhood said the whole house shook after the sound.
The attacks did not stop at Riyadh. The civil aviation authority also reported an attack on Dammam airport in the east, which the Houthis said they had targeted. The coalition then reported shooting down a drone, also in the east. Early on Monday, it said it had intercepted and destroyed a Houthi ballistic missile heading for Khamis Mushait, a southern city that hosts a major military base.
A deadly week at the Saudi capital’s airport
Saturday’s strike killed 12 people and wounded 309, as our report on how the Riyadh airport toll rose to 12 set out. The dead included four Saudi citizens, two Bangladeshis and one national each from the United States, Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Palestine and Sudan. The Indian embassy said an Indian citizen who was wounded on Saturday died of his injuries on Sunday.
Six Pakistani nationals were among those wounded in the Saturday attack, a fact that drew a public message of sorrow from the prime minister, as covered in our report on how Shehbaz condemned the Houthi attacks on Saudi airports. An earlier strike on Thursday killed three people, including a Saudia pilot. Pakistan International Airlines had already suspended its Riyadh flights after the first strikes, so Pakistani travellers now face a longer wait for normal services to resume.
The anti-Houthi coalition called Saturday’s attack a full-fledged war crime and vowed a decisive response. Houthi media reported two Saudi strikes in Yemen’s Houthi-controlled Sanaa governorate on Sunday. US President Donald Trump has said he is considering joining Saudi strikes against the Houthis.
Why the attacks matter for Pakistan
Saudi Arabia hosts one of the largest Pakistani worker communities in the world, and Riyadh’s airport is a main gateway for those workers and their families. Each closure strands passengers, delays remittance-earning workers on their way to jobs, and raises the risk for Pakistanis who live and work near the targeted sites. Pakistan has also tied its own security diplomacy to the kingdom’s defence, most recently when it took the Houthi attacks case to the UN Security Council and restated its commitment to Saudi security.
For now, the practical questions are narrow ones. Families of the wounded Pakistani workers are waiting for names and hospital details. Travellers are waiting for the airport to reopen. Both waits depend on whether the strikes pause, and nothing in Sunday’s statements suggested that a pause is close. (Source: Dawn, reporting by AFP)
Frequently asked questions
Who was killed in the fresh Riyadh airport strike?
Saudi Arabia’s civil aviation authority said the person killed on Sunday was a Pakistani resident. It did not release his name. Eleven other people were wounded and taken to hospital.
How many people died in Saturday’s attack on the airport?
Saturday’s strike killed 12 people and wounded 309. An Indian citizen who was wounded in that attack died of his injuries on Sunday, the Indian embassy said.
Is Riyadh airport open?
No. Flightradar24 said the authorities extended the closure by another 24 hours after Sunday’s strike. PIA had already suspended its Riyadh flights after the earlier attacks.
