Governments and United Nations officials have condemned an attack on King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh that Saudi Arabia says killed at least 12 people and wounded 300 others, according to a report by Al Jazeera and Reuters published on Sunday 11 October 2026. The strike took place on Saturday 10 October.
Saudi Arabia has accused Yemen’s Houthis of carrying out the attack, which Al Jazeera described as the third on the Riyadh international airport that week. The Saudi civil aviation authority said the victims included four Saudis, two people from Bangladesh and one person each from the United States, Jordan, Palestine, Syria, Sudan and Egypt. Al Jazeera said it was the deadliest attack in the kingdom in more than a decade. The report did not carry a response from the Houthis.
Washington and the United Nations
US President Donald Trump called the attack terrible and said he would soon speak with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. According to the report, he also said Washington was evaluating whether to join the war against the Houthis and would decide quickly. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said an American was among those killed and called for an end to the attacks.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on X that he was deeply shocked, adding that attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure violate international law and must cease immediately. The UN special envoy for Yemen, Hans Grundberg, said strikes on civilian airports in Saudi Arabia represent “a grave escalation” that complicates peace efforts for Yemen.
Regional and Wider Reaction
Egypt’s foreign ministry condemned the attacks as a violation of international law. Qatar’s foreign ministry described them as a serious violation of Saudi sovereignty and said Doha supported measures the kingdom takes to protect its security. Pakistan called the attack an act of terrorism; Al Jazeera noted that Islamabad has recently activated a mutual defence pact with Riyadh over the attacks.
Jordan’s foreign ministry condemned what it called brutal aggression. Oman also denounced the attack but stressed the need for wisdom and self-restraint to avoid widening the escalation. Japan’s embassy in Riyadh said attacks on civilians cannot be tolerated, and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney called the strikes abhorrent.
Al Jazeera placed the attack in the context of an intensifying war in Yemen, in which the Houthis are fighting forces aligned with the internationally recognised government. It said Saudi Arabia is waging an air campaign against the Iran-backed group in support of the government’s ground war.
Why It Matters
The breadth of the condemnation, from Western capitals to Gulf and Muslim-majority states, shows how quickly an attack on civilian aviation infrastructure can draw in outside powers. The remarks from Washington about possibly joining the fight, and from Oman and the UN envoy about restraint, point in different directions. The report did not yet describe any new Saudi or US military action.
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