Overview
- Houthi missiles and drones struck Riyadh’s King Khalid International Airport, with Saturday’s attack killing at least 13 people and wounding more than 300, and authorities have suspended airport operations through Oct. 17.
- The Saudi‑led coalition reported multiple interceptions of missiles and drones and on Oct. 13 ordered civilians to evacuate the Yemen Petroleum Company’s Al‑Sabaha site before carrying out a reported strike on the facility.
- Analysts point to depleted interceptor stocks and gaps in Saudi air defenses as factors in Houthi penetrations, while the United States is providing intelligence, targeting and aerial refueling and President Trump has said he is considering direct involvement.
- The attacks have forced widespread flight suspensions, travel warnings and event cancellations in Riyadh and are squeezing energy routes by threatening Red Sea shipping and the Strait of Hormuz, which could raise shipping costs and insurance premiums.
- The fighting has worsened Yemen’s humanitarian crisis with hundreds of thousands displaced and rising disease risk, and it also reflects the longer civil war rooted in Houthi control of Sanaa since 2014 that now risks wider regional spillover.