Riyadh airport struck again on Sunday, less than a day after a missile strike killed 12 people at the same complex. The Saudi-led coalition said an unidentified projectile hit Terminal 4 at King Khalid International Airport and started a fire. Crews were responding at the scene, the coalition added, and no casualty figures for the Sunday strike had been released by Sunday night.
Coalition spokesman Major General Turki al-Maliki announced the strike in a post on X. He also said air defences had intercepted and destroyed a cruise missile near the airport. Terminal 4 sits in the same complex as Terminal 3, and both terminals handle domestic flights.
Riyadh airport struck again: blasts heard across the capital
The attack was felt well beyond the airport fence. AFP journalists in central Riyadh heard a powerful explosion, and three residents in the north of the capital later reported hearing another blast. One resident of the Al-Aarid neighbourhood said the whole house shook after the sound.
Residents also saw ambulances heading towards the airport, which lies in the northeast of the city. Meanwhile, a Riyadh Metro official told AFP that services to two of the three stations serving the airport had been suspended. The decision, the official said, would be reviewed on a daily basis.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the Sunday strike. Shortly before it, the Houthis said the airport in Sanaa, the Yemeni capital they hold, had been struck again. They blamed Saudi Arabia for that attack but gave no details.
A day after the deadliest strike of the week
Sunday’s projectile landed less than a day after a missile hit the same airport and killed 12 people. Another 309 people were wounded in that Saturday attack, as our report on how the Riyadh airport toll climbed to 12 sets out. The dead included four Saudi citizens, two Bangladeshis and one national each from the United States, Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Palestine and Sudan.
The airport was still closed on Sunday because of the Saturday strike. Hundreds of flights had been cancelled or delayed, schools in the capital moved online, and several foreign embassies advised their citizens to stay away from the airport area. Pakistan International Airlines had already halted its Saudi operations after the earlier strikes, as covered in our report on how PIA suspended Riyadh flights.
Saturday’s strike was the third attack on the airport in a week. Earlier strikes on Thursday killed three people, including a Saudia pilot, and damaged an aircraft on the ground. The coalition blamed the Houthis for the Saturday missile and promised a decisive response, a position it set out while vowing retaliation for the airport attack.
Pakistan restates its commitment to Saudi security
The Sunday strike came hours after Pakistan restated its position on the crisis. The Foreign Office condemned the fresh wave of Houthi attacks and reaffirmed Pakistan’s commitment to Saudi sovereignty and security under the Makkah Joint Defence Agreement. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif issued a similar condemnation, and Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar said six Pakistani nationals were among those injured on Saturday.
Pakistan had already taken the issue to the United Nations. At the Security Council, Islamabad reaffirmed its commitment to Saudi security, as our report on Pakistan’s statement at the UN explains. The Makkah pact, signed on August 7 with Turkiye also a party, treats an attack on one member as an attack on all.
What happens next
Attention now turns to the coalition’s promised response and to Washington. US President Donald Trump said on Saturday that the United States may join Saudi strikes against the Houthis, and he planned to speak to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. The coalition has already run large operations against Houthi targets in Yemen, including the campaign covered in our report on coalition operations against 136 targets.
For travellers, the immediate question is when the airport reopens. Dawn’s report on the Sunday strike is here.
FAQ
What hit Riyadh airport on Sunday?
The Saudi-led coalition said an unidentified projectile struck Terminal 4 at King Khalid International Airport and caused a fire. It also said air defences destroyed a cruise missile near the airport.
Were there casualties in the Sunday attack on Riyadh airport?
No casualty figures for the Sunday strike had been released by Sunday night. The confirmed toll from Saturday’s missile strike on the same airport stands at 12 dead and 309 wounded.
Why does the Riyadh airport attack matter for Pakistan?
Pakistan is a party to the Makkah Joint Defence Agreement with Saudi Arabia and Turkiye. Six Pakistani nationals were injured in Saturday’s strike, and Pakistan’s embassy in Riyadh is assisting them.
