The Breakfast Table · ages 9–11 · 2026-10-17
Airports Become Targets in Yemen’s Widening War
Saudi officials say attacks on airports from October 6 to 11 killed at least 20 people.
Saudi Arabia is in a fight with the Houthis, a group that controls Sanaa and parts of north-west Yemen. Yemen is the country just south of Saudi Arabia. A truce set up by the United Nations in 2022 mostly held for years. It has now collapsed.
The Houthi leader calls the attacks tit-for-tat. He says the policy is “airports for airports, ports for ports.” That came after Sanaa’s airport was hit. The Saudi-backed Yemeni government says that strike aimed to stop an Iranian plane from landing there.
Saudi aviation officials counted at least 20 deaths and 356 injuries at airports between October 6 and 11. The worst strike hit Riyadh’s main airport on October 10 and killed at least 12 people. On Wednesday, the Saudi-led coalition said it stopped a missile fired toward Riyadh.
Why it matters
When airports are hit, families, workers and aid flights far from the fighting are affected.
THE RED SEA. Saudi Arabia and Yemen sit on the eastern shore of the Red Sea.