Houthis Strike Riyadh Airport; Saudi Coalition Retakes Red Sea — SkimNews
Get the Geopolitics newsletter
Daily geopolitics — wars, elections, sanctions, the diplomatic moves that move markets. Free.
- Houthis struck King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh, an Aramco refinery, and other southern Saudi targets on October 5, 2026, with loud explosions rattling the Saudi capital, per a Houthi spokesman.
- Saudi-led coalition naval forces destroyed Houthi weapons depots, booby-trapped boats, and naval mine facilities in Hodeida, and the coalition said it drove the group from areas around the Bab al-Mandab Strait including Mocha, Dhubab airport, and Al-Omari military camp.
- Yemen's military carried out more than 1,000 strikes and began an offensive against Sanaa, backed by 100 coalition warplane sorties at dawn, after the government announced an ambitious goal of retaking all Houthi-held territory.
- Pakistan and Turkiye pledged to deploy troops to Saudi Arabia under an August mutual defense pact, following an emergency Riyadh meeting on Monday that committed to 'rapid deployment' without specifying the troops' role.
- The Saudi East-West pipeline was halted again by a Sunday attack, compounding already-soaring crude prices as Aramco CEO Amin Nasser publicly warned global oil stockpiles were 'scarily thin' at the Energy Intelligence Forum in London.
- The UN said it is 'deeply concerned by the sharp escalation,' with more than 184,000 people displaced and fighting now the most active front in the broader West Asia war.
Why it matters: The Houthis' deepest strikes yet on Saudi Arabia's capital coincide with a serious Saudi-led counteroffensive that has reclaimed Red Sea coastline and cut off Houthi supply routes to Mocha — but the East-West pipeline has been knocked offline again, and Aramco's CEO just publicly warned global oil stockpiles are 'scarily thin.' Pakistan and Turkey's troop commitments mark the first concrete activation of their August defense pact.
Ask SkimNews
