Twelve killed in attack on Riyadh Airport

300 injured in missile attack on the site in a major escalation of the war between Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis and the Gulf kingdom.

An attack on the international airport in the Saudi capital Riyadh is a “dangerous escalation” by the Houthi rebels, Defence Secretary Wes Streeting has said.

A missile attack on King Khalid International Airport on Saturday afternoon struck a complex housing terminals for domestic flights, killing 12 people and leaving more than 300 injured.

The airport had been targeted multiple times during the week since a Saudi-led coalition launched a major military offensive against Iran-backed Houthi rebels in neighbouring Yemen.

The Saudis have blamed the Houthis for the attack, and US President Donald Trump has said he is weighing up whether American forces should join Saudi strikes against the rebels.

Prime Minister Andy Burnham agreed last month to give military support to the kingdom in the form of “defensive” air-to-air refuelling for Saudi jets.

Mr Streeting told Sky News: “What we’ve seen overnight is a dangerous escalation and I’m afraid an increasing pattern of behaviour from the Houthis that’s targeting civilian sites in Saudi Arabia.

“This is completely contemptible action and it’s one of the reasons why the UK is providing support to Saudi Arabia in the form of air defences, but also air-to-air refuelling.

“We want to see an end to this conflict. It cannot be right that the Houthis are attacking civilian targets in this way.”

The UK is not looking at getting involved in offensive operations in Saudi Arabia, he said.

“That’s not what we’re looking at at this stage, and we’ve always been clear that there isn’t a military solution to this conflict,” he told the BBC’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg programme.

“We need to see a diplomatic solution, and Saudi needs to do that from a position of strength, and so the support we’ve been providing, the air-to-air refuelling support, the ground-based air defences, those things are having a positive impact.

“But I think there is clearly more to do, as evidenced by what we saw last night, which I think should be condemned worldwide.”

  Published: 11/10/2026 by Radio NewsHub