The General Authority of Civil Aviation said a strike on King Khalid International Airport on Saturday, October 10 killed 12 people and wounded 309, some of them critically, and all flights were diverted and airport operations suspended (CNN, CBS, CNBC, Arab News, The Washington Post). The dead are four Saudis, two Bangladeshis, and one each from America, Jordan, Palestine, Syria, Sudan and Egypt. The Authority’s statement did not name the perpetrator, and the coalition said it was the Houthis. The head of the Houthi media office said they “closed” the airport, according to reports, and CBS said they had not announced formal responsibility. al-Maliki called the attack a war crime and vowed a decisive response.
The largest civilian toll in this escalation that we have found, and at the airport of a capital where about eight million people live. The strike threatens travel and business and pushes Washington to consider a direct role.
If you have a flight through Riyadh, check it with the carrier, follow your embassy’s warnings and the Saudi authorities, and avoid sharing unverified clips.
Saudi Arabia and the coalition say the attack is a war crime and that they will respond decisively.
The Houthis say Saudi airspace is an arena of operations and that they warned the airlines.
This is a turning point in the war’s cost to civilians. The test now: what shape the coalition’s response takes, whether Washington joins, and how the Saudi market opens. We stay cautious about any figure before the Authority updates it.
CNN, CBS, CNBC, Arab News, The Washington Post, Yahoo News, Al Jazeera (October 10, 2026)
Twelve dead and 309 wounded in a strike on King Khalid Airport in Riyadh; the coalition calls it a “war crime” and vows a decisive response
The General Authority of Civil Aviation said Saturday’s strike killed 12 people and wounded 309, some of them critically, and all flights were diverted away from the capital. It is the third attack on the airport this week.
The Saudi General Authority of Civil Aviation announced that a strike on King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh on Saturday, October 10 killed 12 people and wounded 309, some of them critically, according to CNN, CBS, CNBC, Arab News and The Washington Post. It said all flights were diverted away from the capital and operations at the airport were temporarily suspended. This is the third attack on the airport this week.
According to the Authority, the dead are four Saudis and two Bangladeshis, and one each from the United States, Jordan, Palestine, Syria, Sudan and Egypt. The Authority’s statement did not name the party responsible, while the coalition said the Houthis carried it out, and the head of the “Houthi Media Office” said on the X platform that the group “closed” Riyadh International Airport, according to reports, whereas CBS said the group had not announced formal responsibility.
The spokesman for the Saudi-led coalition, Maj. Gen. Turki al-Maliki, called the attack a “fully fledged war crime” and said the coalition would respond “decisively” in line with “international humanitarian law”. The United States, Britain, Spain and Canada warned their citizens against using the airport, according to CNN. As of dawn on Sunday we had found no independent confirmation of new coalition air strikes.
In DailyDrop’s reading, this is the largest toll of civilian casualties in this escalation that we have found, and it may change calculations in Riyadh and Washington. Today, Sunday, we are following: the coalition’s response, the Saudi market’s opening on the news, the state of the airport and flights, and the US decision.