Fire and smoke rise near King Fahd International Airport in Dammam, Saudi Arabia, after an attack on October 11, 2026
It was the first civilian death reported since the rebels intensified their attacks against the kingdom, targeting Saudi shipping and oil installations.
Flightradar24, a global flight-tracking service, said on X that aircraft were being diverted away from the airport following the incident. Earlier this month, a limited fire broke out at an administrative building at Aramco, one of the world’s largest oil facilities, following an attack in Saudi Arabia’s Eastern Province, the Energy Ministry said at the time. Saudi authorities have not identified those responsible for the attack or disclosed further details. The Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen have also not commented on the incident. The latest incident follows another deadly attack in the country’s south-east. Last month, debris from an intercepted Houthi drone killed a Yemeni resident in Saudi Arabia.
The airport, located on the Persian Gulf near Bahrain and Qatar, also sustained material damage, the authority said early on Thursday.
The move followed a series of deadly attacks attributed to Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels and growing concerns that the conflict could escalate further. The United States ordered some of its diplomats and the family members of US government employees to leave Saudi Arabia late on Wednesday.