Explosions heard in Saudi capital as airport prepares to reopen

Read the original at The Hindu ↗
Cite

AFP. (2026, October 25). Explosions heard in Saudi capital as airport prepares to reopen. The Hindu. https://www.thehindu.com/news/international/explosions-heard-in-saudi-capital-as-airport-prepares-to-reopen/article71622928.ece

Dated from the outlet's own feed. Check the original for its byline.

The Hindu · collected 2026-10-25 · by AFP

Quick Summary

On October 25, 2026, explosions were heard in Riyadh as the Saudi capital's international airport was set to reopen after two weeks. The reopening came despite repeated attacks by Yemen’s Houthi rebels, who have targeted the airport multiple times, including an attack this month that killed 13 people and injured over 300. The Houthis warned that the airport remains unsafe and a military target for their forces.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-10-25, using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the same event (that is the story summary below).

AI analysis runs on qwen2.5:14b, locally

Story summary

As of October 25, 2026, explosions were heard in Saudi Arabia's capital, Riyadh, on the same day that the city’s international airport was set to reopen after two weeks of closures due to attacks by Houthi rebels. The U.S. State Department had earlier ordered non-emergency government employees and their families to leave Saudi Arabia amid escalating tensions with the Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen. On October 21, a drone attack on an oil field and another strike at King Fahd International Airport near Dammam killed three people, injured eight others, including one Indian national and a Saudi citizen, and disrupted air travel across the kingdom. The attacks have intensified since a truce between the Houthis and the internationally recognized Yemeni government collapsed earlier in 2026, leading to civilian casualties and severe disruptions in critical infrastructure such as airports and oil fields.

Written for “Houthis Attack Saudi Arabia” on 2026-10-25, grounded in this article and the 17 other(s) covering the same event.
Why this leaning score
The article's own words the score was based on. Each is quoted verbatim and was checked against the article text before being stored, so you can find it in the original.
Reading Leans right (beta estimate) Confidence high
Leaning: leans right for article 105519 (high confidence, 1 verified quote) · logged 2026-10-25

Story

📰 Houthis Attack Saudi Arabia
World · 18 article(s) covering the same event. Compare every outlet's account →

Compared with similar articles

This article reads leans right and hedges 14% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
The Hindu · 0.88 cosine similarity
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 0% hedged 0 of 10 📰 publisher trust 77
“Both articles describe explosions and the reopening of Riyadh airport on the same day (October 25, 2026) following Houthi attacks.”
Al Jazeera
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 0% hedged 0 of 12 📰 publisher trust 60
“The articles describe different attacks at separate airports and times.”
The Straits Times
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 0% hedged 0 of 6 📰 publisher trust 68
“The articles describe different events: one is about an attack on King Fahd International Airport in Dammam with casualties, while the other reports explosions near Riyadh international airport as it prepares to reopen after a closure.”
The Straits Times
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 0% hedged 0 of 13 📰 publisher trust 68
“The articles describe different incidents occurring on different days with distinct locations and outcomes.”
Toronto Star
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 0% hedged 0 of 3 📰 publisher trust 64
“Both articles describe the reopening of Saudi Arabia's main airport on October 25, 2026, and mention ongoing attacks by Houthi rebels.”
Toronto Star
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 17% hedged 6 of 36 📰 publisher trust 64
“Article A describes the reopening of the Saudi capital's airport with limited traffic on October 21, while Article B mentions explosions heard in the city and the planned reopening of the airport on October 25.”
Dawn
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 13% hedged 3 of 23 📰 publisher trust 72
“The events described in both articles occurred at different times and places, with Article A reporting on airstrikes and casualties in Yemen on Saturday, while Article B describes explosions in Saudi Arabia's capital city on Sunday as the airport prepares to reopen.”
The Hindu
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 0% hedged 0 of 3 📰 publisher trust 77
“The first article reports attacks on October 22nd, while the second describes explosions and airport reopening preparations on October 25th.”
BBC News
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 0% hedged 0 of 9 📰 publisher trust 69
“Article A describes UK's response to Houthi attacks with deploying jets, while Article B reports on explosions and airport reopening in Riyadh due to ongoing Houthi strikes. These are related but distinct incidents.”
The Straits Times
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 0% hedged 0 of 5 📰 publisher trust 68
“While both articles refer to the reopening of Riyadh's airport and warnings from Houthis on the same day, Article B mentions explosions in Riyadh, which is not described in Article A.”
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
21
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
14%
3 of 21 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
Leans right
of the writing, not the subject · beta estimate
Publisher signals
77/100
The Hindu's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
18
World
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-10-25 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

The Hindu · 529 article(s) · 2 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 2 correction(s)

Who wrote this

AFP
721 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
🔮 Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Sunday that a potential resumption of war with Israel and the United States would not change his country’s positions.
🔮 Riyadh's international airport said flights would resume on Sunday (October 25, 2026) after a two-week closure following the Houthi strikes.
🔮 Serbia votes on Sunday (October 25, 2026) in what is set to be its most fiercely contested parliamentary election in more than 14 years, as a student-led movement seeks to oust the party of veteran leader Aleksandar Vucic.
🔮 Riyadh's international airport said flights would resume on Sunday (October 25, 2026) after a two-week closure following strikes from Yemen's Houthis on the Saudi capital, though the Iran-backed group warned of more to come.
2026-10-25 · assertive framing · Riyadh airport resumes flights following Houthi attacks
🔮 Violation of those terms will result in end of service," he wrote in another post.
🔮 Israel said on Sunday (October 25, 2026) all land crossings with the West Bank will be closed on the day of next week's election, as it pledged a harder line on militancy after Palestinian gunmen killed two soldiers in the territory.
🔮 Final polls showed the two candidates neck-and-neck. Sunday's runoff will determine whether Brazil remains one of Latin America's few leftist nations or joins a regional swing to the right championed by U.S. President Donald Trump, who has not openly endorsed the son of his ally. Mr. Lula, who is seeking a fourth term in office overall, has pitched himself as a bulwark against U.S. interference and democratic backsliding and promised to expand social protections. Flavio Bolsonaro, 45, has vowed to crack down on crime and slash government spending, while handing Brazil to "the Lord Jesus Christ," with a message of change that won over Brazilians looking for something new. "Enough is enough.
🔮 Marching in the rain at the head of the protest in the northern city of Lille, 47-year-old Delphine insisted: “Neither the President, nor the weather will stop me from demonstrating.”
2026-10-25 · assertive framing · Fresh clashes rock France as protesters march on
🔮 In Ohio, Mr. Brown will attempt a comeback against incumbent Republican Senator Jon Husted, while the race for governor will be contested between Democrat Amy Acton and Republican Vivek Ramaswamy, a former presidential candidate in 2024.
🔮 Others remained defiantly open after a call by the city’s mayor Giuseppe Sala not to “panic.”
Wire or desk byline, not an individual reporter.
Also by AFP
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 721 articles by AFP →

Topics

Houthi Houthis Riyadh Saudi Yemen

Subjects

Houthis NORP · 8× Saudi NORP · 8× Houthi NORP · 7× Riyadh GPE · 6× Yemen GPE · 3× AFP ORG · 2× Khamis Mushait GPE · 2× Saudi Arabia GPE · 2× Iran GPE · 1× U.S.-Iran GPE · 1×

Narrative

"Air defences intercepted and destroyed a ballistic missile launched by the terrorist Houthi militia toward Riyadh," the coalition posted on X. Later Sunday (October 25, 2026) morning, the coalition said its forces intercepted a cruise missile fired by the Houthis at the kingdom's southern city of Khamis Mushait.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-10-25
🔮 Riyadh's international airport said flights would resume on Sunday (October 25, 2026) after a two-week closure following the Houthi strikes.
2026-10-25 · The Hindu
Explosions heard in Saudi capital as airport prepares to reopen · assertive framing

Claims (21 extracted, 3 hedged)

Explosions rang out in the Saudi capital on Sunday (October 25, 2026), as the kingdom was due to reopen Riyadh international airport despite repeated attacks by Yemen's Houthis. asserted
kingdom → ring → Houthis
Saudi Arabia, which leads a military coalition fighting the Iran-backed Houthis, has faced a barrage of strikes from the group in recent weeks. asserted
which → lead → weeks
The fighting erupted after a years-long truce between the Houthis and Yemen's Riyadh-backed government fell apart, and has shifted the focus of the wider U.S.-Iran war. asserted
truce → erupt → war
Riyadh's international airport said flights would resume on Sunday (October 25, 2026) after a two-week closure following the Houthi strikes. asserted
flights → say → strikes
However, it remained unclear to what extent the airport was operational. uncertain
airport → remain → ?
The Houthi fighters have carried out waves of strikes on the airport, including an attack this month that killed 13 people and wounded more than 300, the deadliest in the kingdom in more than a decade. asserted
that → carry → decade
Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree warned that the facility was still "unsafe" and a "military target". asserted
facility → warn → ?
"The Yemeni Armed Forces warn all international, regional, and local airlines — as well as staff and travellers — against using King Khalid Airport in Riyadh, as it is unsafe and serves as a military target for our forces," he said. asserted
he → warn → forces
"The Saudi regime shall bear the consequences of any operations at the airport." asserted
regime → bear → airport
Attack warning An AFP journalist in the city heard three explosions in the early hours of Sunday (October 25, 2026), with residents receiving alert messages for a "hostile aerial threat" urging them to stay in a safe place. asserted
residents → hear → place
The warning came as the Saudi-led coalition fighting the Houthis said it had downed a ballistic missile launched by the group towards Riyadh, as well as two drones in the capital area. asserted
it → come → area
"Air defences intercepted and destroyed a ballistic missile launched by the terrorist Houthi militia toward Riyadh," the coalition posted on X. Later Sunday (October 25, 2026) morning, the coalition said its forces intercepted a cruise missile fired by the Houthis at the kingdom's southern city of Khamis Mushait. asserted
forces → intercept → Mushait
Attacks appeared to target areas across the south, with warnings also issued for Abha city and Namas Governorate. " asserted
warnings → appear → city
The bombardment has been very heavy since this morning — may God keep us safe. uncertain
God → keep → us
Everything is shaking because of the explosions," one resident in Khamis Mushait told AFP on Sunday on condition of anonymity. asserted
resident → shake → anonymity
The attacks came after the Houthi fighters said that — in the space of 24 hours — they targeted three Saudi airports, including in Riyadh, energy installations, a pipeline and an air base. asserted
they → come → installations
The Saudi civil defence agency said it had also responded to falling debris in the Mecca and Medina regions on Saturday (October 24, 2026) after intercepting two Houthi missiles. asserted
it → say → missiles
The Houthis denied targeting the cities, the two holiest in Islam, calling the Saudi claim a "huge lie". uncertain
Houthis → deny → claim
The Houthis also fired at the southern Yemeni city of Aden, the interim seat of the Saudi-backed government, saying they targeted a naval base and military camp overseen by Saudi forces. asserted
they → fire → forces
The flare-up in Yemen, with the Houthis taking control of the entire Red Sea coast in a lightning offensive last month, has further destabilised the region and disrupted oil markets. asserted
Houthis → take → markets
The Houthi attacks have dealt a blow to Saudi Arabia, the world's biggest exporter of crude, disrupting businesses, airlines and residents, and rattling its drive to shift its international image. asserted
attacks → deal → image
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