Geneva – October 9, 2026: SAM for Rights and Liberties said that the repeated attacks carried out by the Houthi group against civilian airports in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, most recently those targeting King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh on Thursday, October 8, with the casualty figures announced on Friday, October 9, represent a highly dangerous escalation and a direct threat to civilian lives and the safety of civil aviation. The organization warned that the expansion of missile and drone attacks against airports and civilian aircraft threatens to cause further casualties and disrupt air transport operations.

According to a Reuters report published on Friday, October 9, Saudi authorities announced that three Saudi nationals had been killed and others injured in attacks targeting King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh on Thursday. The attacks also damaged an aircraft belonging to Saudi Arabian Airlines. One of those killed was an airline employee, while a final casualty figure for the injured had not been announced.

The Associated Press, citing the Saudi General Authority of Civil Aviation, reported that the airport had been subjected to two successive attacks on Thursday. The first targeted airport facilities, while the second struck a Saudi Arabian Airlines aircraft that was parked on the ground without passengers. The news agency confirmed that the Houthi group had claimed responsibility for targeting the airport and that the attacks had caused widespread disruptions to air traffic and the cancellation of hundreds of flights.

These attacks were preceded by other strikes targeting Abha International Airport and King Khalid International Airport on October 6 and 7, which killed three civilians and injured 36 others, according to a statement by the Saudi General Authority of Civil Aviation. At Abha Airport, two female residents of Moroccan and Algerian nationality were killed and 28 people were injured. Meanwhile, a Sudanese resident was killed and eight others were injured in the attack on King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh, including five Saudi nationals, two Egyptian residents, and one Pakistani resident.

This brings the reported death toll from attacks on the two airports between October 6 and 8 to six people killed and at least 36 injured, in addition to further casualties from the October 8 attacks whose final number had not been determined at the time of this statement.

SAM noted that the consequences of these attacks extended beyond the immediate loss of life and material damage. They also disrupted air traffic, led to flight cancellations, and prompted several international airlines to suspend operations to Riyadh, exposing passengers, airport personnel, and flight crews to ongoing risks and affecting freedom of movement and the safety of air transport.

The organization stressed that civilian airports, aircraft, and facilities designated for passenger services are protected under international humanitarian law and must not be made the object of attack unless they meet the strict legal criteria for an individual civilian object to become a legitimate military objective. Furthermore, allegations that military objectives are located within or near an airport do not automatically remove protection from the airport as a whole or from civilians present there, nor do they relieve the attacking party of its obligations to comply with the principles of distinction and proportionality and to take all feasible precautions.

SAM emphasized that targeting airports while they are operational and receiving civilian flights, resulting in the deaths and injuries of passengers and airport personnel and damage to a civilian aircraft, warrants a thorough investigation into possible serious violations of international humanitarian law. The organization underscored that intentional attacks against civilians and civilian objects may constitute war crimes when the relevant legal elements are met.

SAM for Rights and Liberties called on the Houthi group to immediately cease attacks targeting airports, aircraft, and civilian facilities in Saudi Arabia, Yemen, and elsewhere in the region, and to refrain from any military operations that endanger civilians and civil aviation. It also called for independent and transparent investigations into the recent attacks, the identification of those responsible for ordering and carrying out unlawful operations, and measures to ensure their accountability and provide redress to victims and their families.

The organization further urged the international community and relevant United Nations mechanisms to take a clear position against attacks on civil aviation and to work toward strengthening the protection of airports, passengers, and airport personnel. SAM reaffirmed that civilian safety is not a matter subject to political or military calculations, but a binding legal obligation that must be respected under all circumstances.