{"id":529,"date":"2026-10-12T16:49:29","date_gmt":"2026-10-12T16:49:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/goodforfree.com\/index.php\/2026\/10\/12\/pakistani-national-killed-in-fresh-houthi-strike-on-riyadh-airport-as-saudi-skies-empty\/"},"modified":"2026-10-12T16:49:29","modified_gmt":"2026-10-12T16:49:29","slug":"pakistani-national-killed-in-fresh-houthi-strike-on-riyadh-airport-as-saudi-skies-empty","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/goodforfree.com\/index.php\/2026\/10\/12\/pakistani-national-killed-in-fresh-houthi-strike-on-riyadh-airport-as-saudi-skies-empty\/","title":{"rendered":"Pakistani National Killed in Fresh Houthi Strike on Riyadh Airport as Saudi Skies Empty"},"content":{"rendered":"
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A Pakistani resident was killed and eleven others wounded when Yemen’s Houthi forces launched another deadly strike on Riyadh’s King Khalid International Airport on Sunday evening, Saudi authorities confirmed. The attack, which targeted Terminal 4, came just one day after a devastating assault on the same facility killed thirteen people and injured over three hundred.<\/p>\n

The Sunday evening strike involved an unidentified projectile that sparked a fire at the terminal, according to the Saudi-led coalition operating in Yemen. Saudi air defences intercepted a cruise missile near the airport, while a drone was destroyed over the Eastern Province and a ballistic missile was shot down near Khamis Mushait. Emergency alerts were briefly issued in the southern city of Abha early Monday before the all-clear was given.<\/p>\n

The victim’s nationality has particular resonance for Pakistan, home to one of the largest expatriate communities in Saudi Arabia. Hundreds of thousands of Pakistanis work across the kingdom, many relying on air travel to maintain connections with families back home. The attacks have exposed serious vulnerabilities in Saudi defence systems despite the kingdom’s sophisticated military capabilities.<\/p>\n

Saturday’s strike proved even deadlier, killing thirteen people from eight different countries including four Saudis, two Bangladeshis, and nationals from the United States, Jordan, Palestine, Syria, Sudan, and Egypt. Dramatic footage released by Saudi state television showed religious pilgrims preparing to travel to Islam’s holiest sites when a bright orange flash sent crowds fleeing in panic as sections of the terminal roof collapsed.<\/p>\n

The aviation disruption has been severe and widespread. King Khalid International Airport cancelled nearly all scheduled flights on Sunday, with data showing 99.7 percent of departures grounded. By Monday, approximately sixty percent of flights remained cancelled, according to aviation analytics firm Cirium. The chaos has stranded thousands of travellers and forced major international carriers to suspend operations.<\/p>\n

Lufthansa Group cancelled all Riyadh flights until October 16, while Air France-KLM extended its suspension through month’s end. The US Federal Aviation Administration issued a safety notice urging American airlines to exercise extreme caution when flying to or over Saudi Arabia, citing threats to aircraft at all altitudes.<\/p>\n

The Houthi military spokesperson claimed responsibility for multiple strikes, including attacks on Dammam’s King Fahd International Airport and two Saudi Aramco facilities. An eyewitness at Dammam reported seeing a projectile strike the tarmac near parked aircraft around 8:30pm Sunday, forcing passengers to evacuate.<\/p>\n

The Houthis issued stark warnings to airlines and travellers to avoid Saudi airports, declaring them vulnerable targets and active theatres of operation. They specifically exempted only airports serving the holy cities of Mecca and Medina from their threat.<\/p>\n

Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman described recent events as serious, demanding an equally serious response. The kingdom has intensified military operations in Yemen, backing government forces against Houthi advances along the Red Sea coast.<\/p>\n

President Donald Trump indicated the United States was considering joining Saudi strikes against the Houthis, describing the conflict as spillover from the broader war on Iran launched by the US and Israel in February.<\/p>\n

Despite the security crisis, Saudi authorities proceeded with a major international energy conference in Riyadh, though they suspended in-person classes for all students through Thursday, shifting to remote learning. The attacks represent the deadliest strikes on Saudi territory in over a decade, raising urgent questions about civilian safety and regional stability that directly affect the large Pakistani diaspora working throughout the Gulf.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A Pakistani resident was killed and eleven others wounded when Yemen’s Houthi forces launched another deadly strike on Riyadh’s King Khalid International Airport on Sunday evening, Saudi authorities confirmed. The attack, which targeted Terminal 4,<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":528,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[3,5,6,4],"class_list":["post-529","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world","tag-ai-consensus","tag-ary-news","tag-express-tribune","tag-journalist-ai"],"featured_image_url":"https:\/\/goodforfree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/pakistani-national-killed-in-fresh-houthi-strike-on-riyadh-airport-as-saudi-skies-empty.png","read_time":"3 min read","source_name":"Goodforfree","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/goodforfree.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/529","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/goodforfree.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/goodforfree.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/goodforfree.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/goodforfree.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=529"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/goodforfree.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/529\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/goodforfree.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/528"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/goodforfree.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=529"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/goodforfree.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=529"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/goodforfree.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=529"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}