Houthis Strike Saudi Fuel Depot and Cities as Riyadh Airport Remains Closed

The Royal Saudi Air Force struck a fuel depot near Sanaa on October 13 while Houthi forces launched missiles toward multiple Saudi cities, including Riyadh and Dammam. An administrative building belonging to Saudi Aramco in Dhahran was partially consumed by fire after Saudi forces intercepted a Houthi missile over the city.

King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh remains closed. Saudi civil aviation authorities extended the closure until 9 p.m. on October 17. The airport has been hit several times in recent days. A strike on October 10 killed at least 12 people and wounded more than 300. A further strike on October 11 killed one person and injured 11. The dead in the earlier attacks included Saudi nationals and citizens of Bangladesh, the United States, Jordan, Palestine, Syria, Sudan, and Egypt. One Indian national later died of injuries sustained on October 10.

Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree claimed responsibility for strikes on the Riyadh airport, the airport in Dammam, and Aramco facilities. The group has warned airlines and passengers against using Saudi airports and airspace, describing them as a zone of military operations. The Saudi-led coalition has conducted airstrikes on Houthi positions in Yemen in response to the missile and drone threats.

The escalation follows the unraveling of a previous ceasefire and a ground offensive by the internationally recognized Yemeni government, backed by Saudi Arabia, against Houthi-held territory. Fighting in Taiz has produced civilian casualties and displacement. The World Health Organization separately reported a surge in cholera cases in Yemen over the past three weeks, adding a health emergency to the conflict.

Saudi authorities have moved schools to remote learning for a week in affected areas. The United Kingdom has advised against all but essential travel to Saudi airports except Medina and has encouraged British nationals to leave by land if they judge it safe. Flight cancellation rates at Riyadh reached 99.7 percent on one day after the October 10 attack, according to aviation data firm Cirium.

The Houthis, who control large parts of northern Yemen and the capital Sanaa, have long received support from Iran. The current round of strikes on Saudi civilian and energy infrastructure is the most intense since the earlier phases of the Yemen war. Saudi Aramco facilities have been targeted before, including in the 2019 attacks that temporarily halved the kingdom's oil output. The fire at the Dhahran administrative building produced no reported injuries.

President Trump has said the United States is considering joining Saudi counter-strikes aimed at Houthi positions along the Red Sea coast and the Bab el-Mandeb Strait. No decision has been announced. The Houthis have warned that any U.S. participation would draw a response. The airport closures and energy-site strikes have already disrupted passenger travel and raised questions about the security of Gulf energy exports.

The combination of airport shutdowns, missile exchanges, and the ongoing cholera outbreak leaves the region with overlapping military and humanitarian pressures. Further strikes on either side would extend the disruption to commercial aviation and oil infrastructure that has already forced route changes and elevated insurance costs for shipping and air travel through the area.