Houthi attack on an airport in eastern Saudi Arabia. One person was killed

Raluca Ioana Draghici

22 October 2026, 05:46

International

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A Saudi resident was killed and eight other people were injured in an attack on King Fahd International Airport in Dammam, in eastern Saudi Arabia, near Bahrain and Qatar. The attack took place on Wednesday evening, and the information was confirmed Thursday morning by the Saudi Civil Aviation Authority.

The airport suffered material damage, and several flights were diverted, according to the Flightradar24 service. Saudi authorities have not yet specified who launched the attack. The area had previously been targeted by missiles and projectiles attributed to Iran-backed Houthi rebels from Yemen.

The Saudi-led coalition announced that it had intercepted four drones in the eastern region. However, the Houthi rebels have neither claimed responsibility for nor commented on the incident.

The attack took place amid an intensification of strikes on Saudi Arabia. Shortly beforehand, debris from an intercepted drone killed two people and injured two others at an oil field operated by Aramco. Last month, a Yemeni resident was killed by fragments from a Houthi drone. The United States asked some diplomats and the families of American government employees to leave Saudi Arabia, amid fears of an escalation of the conflict.

Context: weeks of drone and missile attacks on Saudi airports, claimed by the Houthis, preceded the incident in Dammam

Before the attack at King Fahd International Airport, Saudi Arabia was already facing an intensification of attacks attributed to the pro-Iranian Houthi rebels in Yemen: clashes between the government forces backed by Riyadh and the Houthis resumed in July, after years of calm, and since the beginning of October the kingdom has been subjected to almost daily fire, targeting mainly airports and oil infrastructure.

During the same period, the Houthis claimed attacks on the airports in Riyadh and Abha and on an Aramco refinery; Saudi authorities announced the interception and destruction of several missiles, while air traffic was disrupted. On Saturday, an attack on King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh left 12 people dead and more than 300 injured, with airport operations temporarily suspended, after which the Riyadh-led coalition announced a new incident on Sunday, involving a fire at the terminal, with no casualties.