The Breakfast Table · ages 9–11 · 2026-10-16
Yemen’s War Reaches Saudi Oil and Airports
A missile hit an Aramco building on Wednesday, and Riyadh’s airport is still shut.
Yemen is a country just south of Saudi Arabia. A group there called the Houthis is fighting Yemen’s government, which Saudi Arabia backs. On Wednesday, the Houthis said they struck an Aramco site in Dhahran. Aramco is Saudi Arabia’s giant oil company. A Saudi official said a building was hit, causing a small fire and no injuries.
On Thursday, Saudi-backed forces said they stopped a drone heading for the city of Medina and a missile fired toward the capital, Riyadh. Over the weekend, attacks on Riyadh’s King Khalid airport reportedly killed 14 people and wounded more than 300. The airport is expected to stay shut until at least Saturday.
Ordinary families in Yemen are suffering too. The UN World Food Programme says the fighting is cutting food aid to about 800,000 people. In the city of Taiz, wheat flour is nearly gone. Meanwhile, a meeting between the European Union and Gulf countries in Riyadh has been postponed.
Why it matters
Airports and oil sites matter far beyond Yemen, and the people hit hardest are families who cannot easily get food.
THE RED SEA. Saudi Arabia and Yemen sit on the eastern shore of the Red Sea.