Flames and thick black smoke rose near King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh on Saturday evening after Yemen's Iran-backed Houthis claimed they attacked sensitive sites in the Saudi capital with cruise missiles, ballistic missiles, and drones. Saudi civil defense issued overnight air-raid warnings before declaring an all-clear; flight operations faced major disruption.
Flames and dense black smoke rose near King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh on Saturday evening after a Houthi barrage that included cruise and ballistic missiles struck the Saudi capital. The Iran-backed group claimed the attacks targeted sensitive sites in Riyadh and Aramco facilities in Yanbu. Saudi civil defense issued air-raid warnings in Riyadh and Al-Kharj before declaring an all-clear Saturday morning. Flightradar24 reported major disruptions to air traffic.
The Saturday evening report is the latest in a day-long series of Houthi strikes on the same facility. The Zioneer's coverage tracked the sequence: explosions first reported at 07:50 Jerusalem (initial Houthi missiles blamed, Saudi authorities restricting footage); a direct missile hit at 15:02 (heavy smoke, flight suspension); a drone attack at 19:17 (first use of drones against the airport, also hitting seven regions); a further drone strike at 20:28; and now, at 21:59, the emergence of flames and confirmation that cruise and ballistic missiles were used, causing major flight disruption. With each wave, reports evolved from unverified claims to official Saudi acknowledgment and independent flight tracking data.
The attacks mark a significant expansion of Houthi reach. As The Zioneer reported in earlier coverage, this is the first direct attack on Riyadh, shifting from border skirmishes to the heart of Saudi infrastructure. The Houthi movement described the operation as retaliation for an alleged Saudi attempt to target Sanaa. The attacks follow a pattern of Iranian-backed escalation: in July, Houthis bombed Yanbu port and Aramco facilities in Jazan, and earlier this year, Iranian proxies threatened operations if strikes continued.
No casualty figures have been reported. The extent of damage to airport infrastructure or Aramco facilities remains unconfirmed. Saudi authorities have imposed a ban on sharing footage from the impact sites, limiting visual verification.
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