Houthi attacks on Saudi airports prompt US embassy drawdown
A wave of Houthi missile and drone attacks on Saudi airports and oil sites has killed civilians, forced flight cancellations and led the US to order non-essential embassy staff to leave.
How it was covered
- BBC News carried 64% of the airtime.
- Channel 5, BBC One, BBC Two, GB News and ITV: not found in tracked broadcasts.
The Full Story
A plain summary built from the channels that reported this story. Facts only one channel reported are attributed to it.
The United States has ordered non-essential embassy staff and their families to leave Saudi Arabia after a fresh Houthi attack on a Saudi airport, as a wave of missile and drone strikes widens across the kingdom.
The latest attack hit King Fahd International Airport in Dammam, near Bahrain, killing two people, a Saudi citizen and an Indian national, and injuring eight others, according to reports. It was not immediately clear who was responsible, though the attack came amid a sustained Houthi campaign against Saudi airports and energy sites.
The Dammam strike followed two deadly attacks in as many days on King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh. On Saturday, a missile hit the airport, killing 12 or 13 people and injuring more than 300, the deadliest attack on Saudi soil in more than a decade. On Sunday, a second projectile struck Terminal 4, setting off a fire and killing one person and injuring 11 others, Saudi officials said. Houthi-run television said the group had claimed responsibility for the first strike, and the Houthis later warned airlines and passengers to avoid Saudi airports and airspace, calling them potential targets.
Saudi Arabia called the Riyadh attack a war crime and promised a full and serious response. The kingdom closed the airport, cancelled or diverted hundreds of flights and switched Riyadh schools to remote learning. Western diplomatic missions, including the US and UK, warned their nationals to stay away from the airport. Houthi-run television said Saudi airstrikes hit Sana'a airport in Yemen in retaliation, and the Saudi-led coalition continued strikes on Houthi positions.
President Donald Trump said the US was weighing whether to join retaliatory strikes against the Houthis, saying a decision would come quickly. The UK said it would not take part in strikes at this stage, but it has provided ground-based air defence and air-to-air refuelling support and announced it was sending Typhoon jets to help defend the kingdom. The EU said ministers would discuss the conflict.
The attacks have exposed the difficulty of defending Saudi Arabia, the world's eighth biggest defence spender, against cheap drones and low-flying missiles. Saudi cities are protected by US Patriot missiles, but each interceptor costs about $3m and is not designed to counter drones that can cost as little as $15,000. The Houthis have also targeted oil facilities, forcing Aramco to evacuate its headquarters near the Dammam airport and pushing oil prices to a five-month high.
The fighting is tied to Yemen's civil war, now more than a decade old. The Houthis, backed by Iran, have seized territory along the Red Sea coast and threaten the Bab al-Mandab Strait, a vital route for global trade. Saudi Arabia backs Yemen's internationally recognised government and has carried out airstrikes in Yemen. The Houthis say their attacks are retaliation for Saudi strikes. The escalation has raised fears of a wider regional conflict, disruption to shipping through the Suez Canal and higher fuel prices.
Key Claims
Claims reported during this story's coverage, grouped by how many channels reported each one. Select a dot to see the source excerpt.
| Claim |  |  |  |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reported by all 3 channels | |||
| A fresh strike was reported to have hit Riyadh airport after a deadly attack killed 12 people and injured hundreds. | |||
| President Trump said the US would consider joining Saudi strikes and decide quickly. | Reported by BBC News | Reported by Sky News | |
| Saudi Arabia reported that a Houthi attack on Riyadh International Airport killed 12 people and injured more than 300, called it a war crime, and said the dead included four Saudi citizens and nationals of several other countries. | |||
| Saudi authorities called the attack a war crime and promised a forceful response. | Reported by BBC News | Reported by Sky News | |
| The Houthis warned airlines and passengers not to use Saudi airports or airspace, with exceptions for Mecca and Medina airports. | Reported by Channel 4 | ||
| Reported by a few · 2 channels | |||
| An attack on King Fahd Airport in Dammam killed one person and injured eight, with no clear responsibility reported. | Not reported by Sky News | ||
| Sana'a International Airport, controlled by the Houthis, was hit in Saudi airstrikes. | Not reported by Sky News | ||
| US staff and their families were ordered to leave Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Jordan, Qatar and Bahrain. | Not reported by Sky News | ||
| Only on one channel | |||
| A missile strike the day before killed 13 people and injured more than 300. | Not reported by Channel 4 | Not reported by Sky News | |
| Attacks on civilian airports in Saudi Arabia escalated, including at Abha, Najran and King Abdullah. | Reported by BBC News | Not reported by Channel 4 | Not reported by Sky News |
| Explosions were reported in the Strait of Hormuz in the Karpan area of Sirik, according to Iranian state media citing AFP. | Not reported by Channel 4 | Not reported by Sky News | |
| Riyadh airport's closure was extended to Saturday. | Not reported by Channel 4 | Not reported by Sky News | |
| Saudi Arabia was facing near-daily attacks from Iran-backed Houthi fighters who control much of Yemen. | Not reported by Channel 4 | Not reported by Sky News | |
| Saudi Arabia's Energy Ministry said debris from intercepted drones killed two people and injured two others at the Sheba oil field near the UAE border. | Not reported by Channel 4 | Not reported by Sky News | |
| The UK announced it would deploy Typhoon jets to defend Saudi Arabia and shoot down Houthi missiles and drones. | Not reported by BBC News | Not reported by Sky News | |
| The UK confirmed it would not take part in Saudi strikes at this stage. | Not reported by BBC News | Reported by Channel 4 | Not reported by Sky News |
Channel Perspectives
What each channel focused on, with key quotes.
Sky led with the immediate confirmation of the second projectile and the Houthi warning to airlines, then moved quickly through the political and strategic fallout. Its later bulletin put more weight on Donald Trump's decision on retaliatory strikes, the pressure on Saudi defence and the risk to UK shipping and fuel supplies through the Suez Canal. It carried some analysis but kept the tone of a rolling news desk.
- “The Saudi-led coalition fighting Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen says a projectile has struck a passenger terminal at the international airport in Riyadh.”
- “Donald Trump says he's weighing up whether to join retaliatory strikes against Houthi rebels in Yemen.”
- “I think the issue for the UK would be if this war with the Houthis spilled over into closing the seas again”
BBC coverage was the most extensive, combining breaking news with verification, expert interviews and Yemen context. It focused on the sequence of Riyadh attacks, the Houthis' warnings, Saudi retaliation on Sana'a airport and the later US embassy drawdown, while repeatedly noting uncertainty about responsibility and the limits of available footage. It also explored the military asymmetry between cheap Houthi drones and costly Saudi air defences.
- “another projectile has hit the main airport in Riyadh, a day after 12 people were killed”
- “The Houthis have warned airlines and passengers not to use airports in Saudi Arabia after that deadliest attack on Saudi soil in more than a decade.”
- “The United States has ordered non-essential staff in its embassy in Saudi Arabia and their families to leave.”
Channel 4 treated the story as a widening security and economic crisis, with vivid reporting on the human cost in Yemen and the vulnerability of Saudi Arabia despite its huge defence budget. It stressed the US withdrawal, the evacuation of Aramco's headquarters, the cheap-drone versus Patriot-missile asymmetry and the risk to global oil and shipping. It also gave more space to UK military support and the political embarrassment for Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
- “Two people have been killed after another Houthi attack on a Saudi airport.”
- “Aramco, the world's biggest oil company, was forced to evacuate its headquarters nearby, while the Americans have begun withdrawing all non-essential staff from the country.”
- “We have taken Saudi Arabia to the war, and now the war is coming to Saudi Arabia.”
Broadcast Timeline
News broadcasts tracked for this story, in time order.