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Dammam Airport Targeted As Saudi-Houthi Conflict Escalates Further (Img: IANS)
New Delhi: Saudi Arabia’s airport crisis widened on Sunday after King Fahd International Airport in Dammam was targeted in a fresh attack, according to the kingdom’s civil aviation authority. The announcement came shortly after Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels claimed responsibility for an attack on the airport, raising fresh concerns over the security of the country’s aviation network.
The General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA) confirmed that the airport in the Eastern Province was targeted on the evening of October 11. It said damage assessments and safety inspections were underway in coordination with the relevant authorities but did not immediately disclose the extent of the damage or whether there were casualties.
In a statement, GACA said: "The General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA) announces that in the evening of Sunday, October 11, 2026, corresponding to 30 Rabi' Al-Thani 1448H, King Fahd International Airport in Dammam was targeted by an attack, amid continued attacks targeting civil aviation facilities in the Kingdom.
GACA clarifies that damage assessments and safety inspections of airport facilities are underway, in coordination with relevant authorities."
Dammam, around 410 km northeast of Riyadh, is a major industrial and commercial centre on the Arabian Gulf coast. The Eastern Province is also central to Saudi Arabia’s oil and gas industry, making the latest incident particularly concerning for the kingdom’s critical infrastructure.
The attack follows a series of strikes targeting Riyadh’s King Khalid International Airport. Saudi authorities said Saturday’s attack killed 13 people and injured more than 300. The airport has remained closed since the strike.
Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree said in a televised address on Sunday that the group was responsible for Saturday’s attack on Riyadh airport.
Separately, the Saudi-led coalition fighting the Houthis in Yemen said an "unidentified projectile" had targeted Terminal 4 at King Khalid International Airport on Sunday, causing a fire. Saudi authorities reported injuries and said assessments of the damage were continuing. The coalition also said Saudi air defences had intercepted a cruise missile near the airport.
The Houthis have issued fresh warnings to airlines, airport employees and travellers, urging them to avoid Saudi airports. The warnings have added to uncertainty surrounding air travel as attacks on the kingdom’s aviation infrastructure continue.
The airport attacks come amid a sharp escalation in fighting between Saudi Arabia and the Houthis in Yemen. Saudi Arabia has stepped up its military involvement in recent weeks, conducting air strikes against the group and supporting a counteroffensive by Yemeni government forces following the Houthis’ seizure of strategic territory along the Red Sea coast last month.
The Houthis claimed that Saudi Arabia had carried out 124 air strikes in Yemen over the preceding 24 hours, including attacks on Sanaa and Saada. The figure could not be independently verified from the available reports.
Yemen’s Houthi-run foreign ministry warned that continued Saudi military action would trigger retaliation.
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"Unless the Saudi enemy stops its aggression and interference in Yemen, worse is yet to come, God willing," the ministry said in statements carried by Houthi-run Al Masirah television.
Sunday’s incident was reported as the fourth attack on Riyadh’s airport in a week. Saudi authorities said Saturday’s victims included four Saudis, two Bangladeshis and nationals of the United States, Jordan, Palestine, Syria, Sudan and Egypt.
India’s embassy in Riyadh confirmed on Sunday that an Indian citizen injured in the attack had died, raising the reported death toll from 12 to 13. Two earlier attacks on the airport had killed four people, while one damaged a Saudi commercial aircraft parked on the tarmac.
With Dammam now also reported to have been targeted, the attacks signal a dangerous widening of the Saudi-Houthi conflict, placing civilian infrastructure and critical transport hubs increasingly at risk. The extent of the damage at Dammam airport remains unclear.
