# Houthi strike on Riyadh's airport kills a Pakistani resident a day after a deadlier attack halted flights

Pakistan, which joined a defense pact with Saudi Arabia in August, condemned the attacks, Saudi officials say the deadlier strike a day earlier killed 12 people and wounded more than 300, and India is weighing the risk to the 2.6 million of its citizens who work in the kingdom.

- Published: 2026-10-12T05:11:07.327Z
- Canonical: https://polylog.news/2026-10-12/houthi-strike-on-riyadh-s-airport-kills-a-pakistani-resident
- Publisher: Polylog (Global desk)
- Section: geopolitics
- Sources: [Dawn](https://www.dawn.com/news/2036412/pakistani-national-killed-11-wounded-as-riyadh-airport-hit-by-houthi-strike), [The New York Times](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/10/11/world/middleeast/saudi-arabia-options-houthis.html), [BBC News Hindi](https://www.bbc.com/hindi/articles/cxj0lqd47439o?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=rss)

A Houthi strike hit King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh on Sunday, killing a Pakistani resident and wounding 11 other people, [Pakistan's Dawn reported](https://www.dawn.com/news/2036412/pakistani-national-killed-11-wounded-as-riyadh-airport-hit-by-houthi-strike). It came a day after a deadlier attack that forced authorities to suspend operations at the airport. Saudi Arabia's civil aviation authority said that attack [killed 12 people and wounded more than 300](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/10/10/attack-on-airport-in-saudi-capital-riyadh-leaves-several-injured), among them citizens of Saudi Arabia, Bangladesh, the United States, Jordan, Palestine, Syria, Sudan and Egypt. Earlier this month, the Houthis also struck the airport in Abha, in southwestern Saudi Arabia.

The New York Times [described the conflict as asymmetrical](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/10/11/world/middleeast/saudi-arabia-options-houthis.html). The Houthis, whom the paper calls Iran-backed, can use low-cost missiles and drones against assets that Saudi Arabia has spent heavily to build, and the kingdom has few good responses. The Saudi-led coalition said last week it had [destroyed 82 Houthi military targets](https://www.arabnews.pk/pakistan/pakistani-injured-three-killed-in-houthi-attacks-on-saudi-airports-3003530) in Yemen. Lufthansa Group has [suspended its flights to Riyadh](https://www.khaleejtimes.com/business/nearly-half-of-departures-at-riyadh-airport-cancelled-after-houthi-attacks) through October 16.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres [condemned the deadlier strike](https://news.un.org/en/story/2026/10/1168572), saying attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure violate international law and that "these attacks must cease immediately." Saudi officials have called such strikes [war crimes](https://www.aljazeera.com/video/newsfeed/2026/10/11/saudi-arabia-vows-response-over-houthi-war-crime-attack-on-riyadh-airport) and said Riyadh would respond.

South Asia is directly exposed. BBC News Hindi profiled an Indian citizen killed in the attacks and published video of an attack on people who had travelled for Umrah, the pilgrimage to Mecca. The outlet [noted](https://www.bbc.com/hindi/articles/cxj0lqd47439o?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=rss) that about 2.6 million Indians work in Saudi Arabia and contribute significantly to India's economy. It warned that if such attacks continue unchecked, Indian interests will be directly affected. Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif [condemned the attacks](https://www.arabnews.pk/pakistan/pakistani-injured-three-killed-in-houthi-attacks-on-saudi-airports-3003530) and reaffirmed Pakistan's commitments under the Mecca Joint Defense Agreement. Saudi Arabia, Türkiye and Pakistan signed that agreement on August 7, and it treats an attack on one member as an attack on all three.

The Houthis, who call their movement Ansarallah, have long described strikes on Saudi airports as [retaliation for the coalition's campaign and blockade of Yemen](https://www.eghtesadnews.com/بخش-%D8%B3%D8%A7%DB%8C%D8%B1-%D8%B1%D8%B3%D8%A7%D9%86%D9%87-%D9%87%D8%A7-61/291096-%D8%AD%D9%85%D9%84%D8%A7%D8%AA-%D9%BE%D9%87%D9%BE%D8%A7%D8%AF%DB%8C-%DA%AF%D8%B3%D8%AA%D8%B1%D8%AF%D9%87-%D8%A7%D9%86%D8%B5%D8%A7%D8%B1%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%84%D9%87-%D8%A8%D9%87-%D9%81%D8%B1%D9%88%D8%AF%DA%AF%D8%A7%D9%87-%D9%87%D8%A7%DB%8C-%D8%A3%D8%A8%D9%87%D8%A7-%D8%AC%DB%8C%D8%B2%D8%A7%D9%86-%D8%B9%D8%B1%D8%A8%D8%B3%D8%AA%D8%A7%D9%86), according to Iranian outlets that carry their statements. Saudi authorities describe the attacks as strikes on civilian infrastructure.

## What this means

Saudi Arabia's plan to diversify its economy depends on Riyadh functioning as a safe hub for aviation, tourism, conferences and foreign workers. Repeated strikes on its main airport raise insurance and staffing costs and delay foreign investment decisions, while costing the Houthis very little. South Asian remittance flows are also exposed, and the Mecca pact could draw Pakistan's military into a conflict it cannot afford on its own. Riyadh can bomb Yemen, but its 2015 to 2022 air campaign showed that strikes did not stop Houthi missile fire. That campaign ended with a 2022 truce negotiated through Oman. The more likely outcome is that airline suspensions are extended and coalition strikes expand over the coming weeks, without stopping the attacks. This forecast depends on the US-Iran conflict continuing. It would be proven wrong by a Saudi-Houthi truce negotiated through Oman, or by a pause in Houthi attacks that coincides with US-Iran talks.

## What to watch

- Whether more Western and Asian airlines extend their Riyadh suspensions past mid-October. Longer suspensions would show that carriers and insurers expect the attacks to continue.
- Whether Pakistan or Türkiye takes concrete military steps under the Mecca pact. Action would turn a paper alliance into an actual commitment of forces.
- Indian government advisories for workers in Saudi Arabia. An evacuation plan would affect remittances and labor supply across the Gulf.