Saudi Aviation Authority Confirms Three Saudis Killed in Thursday's Riyadh Airport Attacks, Including Saudia Pilot

Since Saudi Arabia and allied forces in Yemen launched a major offensive against the Iran-backed Houthis last weekend, the Houthis have struck Saudi airports on three straight days. On Friday, Oct. 9, the toll from the latest one became official.

Saudi Arabia's General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA) said two attacks on King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh on Thursday, Oct. 8, killed three Saudi citizens. The first targeted airport facilities. The second hit a Saudia aircraft. GACA also reported injuries to "a number of citizens and residents of different nationalities," ranging from minor to serious.

The pilot

Saudia confirmed that one of the dead was Captain Hamoud Ali Al-Kalthami, a pilot. The airline said a company aircraft was damaged on the ground and that no passengers were aboard. It said it activated emergency response procedures and offered condolences to his family and colleagues.

Saudia has not described how Al-Kalthami died. GACA has not said who the other two victims were.

Who claimed it

GACA's statement did not name the attackers. The Houthis did. Military spokesman Yahya Saree announced three attacks on the Riyadh airport on Thursday and said a missile "struck its target with precision." The group also said it fired at Najran airport and at King Khalid Air Base in Khamis Mushait.

Saree issued what he called a final warning to "all global airlines" about continuing to fly in Saudi airspace, "which has become a theater for our military operations." The Houthis also told workers to evacuate Saudi oil facilities.

That is the Houthi position in its own terms. The United Nations has taken the opposite view, saying attacks on civilian airports violate international law. The U.S. Mission in Saudi Arabia said the Houthis "have engaged in hostilities against Saudi Arabia, including against civilian airports," and that the conflict "has the potential to escalate."

What Riyadh says it stopped

The Saudi-led coalition said it intercepted and destroyed two ballistic missiles fired toward Riyadh on Thursday. Civil Defense said falling debris damaged a kindergarten and a medical complex in the city. It gave no casualty figures for those sites.

GACA had not directly addressed the airport strikes on Thursday itself, even as images verified by CNN showed smoke over Terminal 4 and a damaged Saudi aircraft. Its Friday statement closed that gap.

Coalition forces said they destroyed 82 Houthi military targets in Yemen in response to the attacks on civilian facilities.

The wider toll

Thursday's deaths come on top of earlier losses. GACA said attacks on Abha International Airport and King Khalid International Airport on Oct. 6 and 7 killed three people and wounded 36. Abha accounted for two dead and 28 injured. Riyadh accounted for one dead and eight injured. Siasat, citing AP, reported the Riyadh victim was a Sudanese national.

AP described Thursday's attacks as the deadliest in the kingdom since the offensive began last weekend. Flight-tracking platform Flightradar24 counted 335 cancellations at Riyadh on Oct. 8.

GACA said operations at the airport have resumed and air traffic has returned to normal. It said it is working with security agencies to assess damage and protect passengers and workers.

A long war, by the Houthis' account

Houthi leader Abdul Malik al-Houthi said in a televised speech Thursday that his group has the "determination and elements of strength, regardless of how long the war lasts." He vowed to keep attacking Saudi targets and fighting Saudi-backed forces in Yemen.

The Houthis have fought Yemen's internationally recognized government and a Saudi-led coalition since 2015. The conflict intensified in July after the collapse of the U.S.-Iran ceasefire, when the Houthis widened missile and drone attacks on Saudi oil facilities, airports and shipping routes, according to CNN.

The U.S. Mission now requires U.S. government employees to obtain special authorization to use the Riyadh airport. It continues to bar them from traveling within 20 miles of the Yemen border. The Indian Embassy in Riyadh advised Indian nationals to stay vigilant and follow local instructions.

Carriers are already responding. Lufthansa Group has suspended Riyadh flights through Oct. 16. Whether others follow, and whether the Houthis make good on their threat against airlines still using Saudi airspace, is the open question as the airport returns to its normal schedule.