Security Council condemns Houthi strikes on King Khalid airport and puts the dead at 13; Saudi authorities had said 12

The Security Council adopted a presidential statement that strongly condemns continued and escalatory Houthi attacks against Saudi Arabia, according to the UN Meetings Coverage and Press Releases service. This paper reported the adoption on Friday, October 16. The text is to be issued as document S/PRST/2026/4.

The Council condemned “the reckless strikes” on 10 and 11 October on King Khalid International Airport. It said they killed 13 people and wounded over 300. It also condemned multiple strikes on other airports and on Saudi Aramco facilities in Saudi Arabia. It expressed solidarity with Saudi Arabia “in the face of attacks impacting civilians and civilian objects on its territory” and affirmed the country's inherent right to self-defence in accordance with international law.

The Council also called for cooperation, including with the Government of Yemen, to prevent the Houthis from acquiring arms and related materiel, technical assistance, training, financing and other assistance. Members reiterated that all Member States must adhere to their obligations under the targeted arms embargo. They repeated their condemnation of Houthi attacks and threats against commercial shipping in the Red Sea and Bab al-Mandab, and reaffirmed their support for Special Envoy Hans Grundberg in his efforts toward a negotiated political settlement.

The Council's figure differs from the one this paper carried earlier in the week. On Monday, October 12, this paper reported that Saudi authorities said the strike on the airport killed 12 people and wounded more than 300. Saudi Arabia's civil aviation authority said on Sunday that 309 people were wounded, some of them critically. The Council's text gives 13 dead. The Council's statement does not say who counted the dead and wounded. Neither report explains the change from 12 to 13. The earlier report said the casualty figures came from Saudi authorities and that the sources did not show the UN had verified them.

That Monday report said Secretary-General António Guterres condemned the attack in a statement issued late on Saturday. “These attacks must cease immediately,” he said. UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk separately expressed dismay at the repeated Houthi attacks on Saudi airports and called for them to be investigated. The report also said that late on Sunday Saudi authorities reported another projectile hit a passenger terminal at the airport, causing further injuries and a fire. The sources gave no casualty figure for that second hit. It was the third Houthi attack on the airport that week, the report said.

The Monday report said the dead included at least four Saudis, two Bangladeshis, a US citizen, and people from Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Palestine and Sudan, citing UN News, which in turn cited Saudi authorities.

The week left several questions open. The Council's statement does not record a vote or say how individual members, including the United States, spoke on the text. The Monday report noted that no position from the United States government was given, although a US citizen was among the dead. Neither report carries a response from the Houthis to the Riyadh strike. The Council's statement does not say what steps it will take if the attacks continue.