The Hague, October 12, 2026
Rights Radar for Human Rights, based in The Hague, the Netherlands, has strongly condemned the Houthi militia’s targeting of airports and other civilian facilities in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia—attacks that reportedly resulted in civilian casualties, including deaths and injuries. The organization characterized these actions as potential war crimes warranting international legal accountability.
Rights Radar also denounced the repeated Houthi attacks on Saudi civilian facilities and interests, as well as the resulting civilian casualties and extensive damage to civil aviation infrastructure.
The organization emphasized that these attacks raise grave concerns under international humanitarian law and cannot be overlooked or justified under any military or political pretext.
According to official Saudi sources, the Houthis have carried out a series of missile and drone attacks targeting Saudi civilian airports since 2015, with a marked recent escalation in both the frequency of the attacks and the resulting civilian casualties.
Notable examples of these attacks include an incident in June 2019, when the Houthis struck the arrivals hall of Abha International Airport with a cruise missile, injuring 26 civilians. In February 2021, a passenger aircraft parked at the same airport caught fire following a strike by a Houthi-launched drone.
In August 2021, shrapnel from an intercepted drone injured eight people and damaged a civilian passenger aircraft. In October 2026, a series of attacks reportedly targeted Abha International Airport and King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh, resulting in civilian casualties and damage to airport facilities. Reports available on October 12 indicated that the October 10 attack on King Khalid International Airport had killed 13 people and injured more than 300 others, some critically. A separate strike on the airport on October 11 reportedly killed one person and injured 11 others. The attacks also disrupted air traffic.
Such attacks may violate international humanitarian law. Attacking civilian airports that do not qualify as military objectives would violate the principle of distinction enshrined in Article 48 of Additional Protocol I to the Geneva Conventions, which requires parties to a conflict to distinguish at all times between civilians and combatants, and between civilian objects and military objectives.
Civilian airports are protected as civilian objects and lose this protection only under strict legal criteria requiring proof that they make an effective contribution to military action.
These attacks also constitute a violation of the principle of proportionality, as reflected in Article 57 of Additional Protocol I, given that the civilian casualties are clearly excessive in relation to any anticipated concrete and direct military advantage.
Under the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, these acts may constitute war crimes under Article 8(2)(b) and, where applicable, Article 8(2)(e), which address the intentional directing of attacks against civilians and civilian objects.
Criminal liability is not limited to those who carry out the attacks; it may also extend to those who order or plan them, in accordance with the internationally recognized principle of command responsibility.
Based on the foregoing, Rights Radar for Human Rights calls on the Houthi militia to cease immediately and unconditionally all unlawful attacks against civilian airports, populated areas, and other civilian facilities, both within and outside the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
We call for independent and transparent investigations into these attacks, including the preservation and examination of physical and digital evidence, testimonies from victims and witnesses, air traffic data, and medical reports.
We call for victims and their families to receive appropriate reparation and effective remedies, and for anyone found responsible for planning, ordering, or carrying out unlawful attacks to be held accountable in accordance with applicable law and fair-trial standards.
Furthermore, we call on the UN Security Council and the international community to take urgent and decisive measures to address attacks against civil aviation, civilian facilities, and civilian objects. We also urge them to press all conflicting parties to comply with international law, including their obligations under international humanitarian law, thereby helping prevent the recurrence of such grave violations and ensuring accountability for those responsible. This process should begin with thorough investigations, the identification of those responsible, and, when necessary, their prosecution, while ensuring that military escalation is not used as a pretext for further unlawful attacks against civilians.
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Issued by Rights Radar for Human Rights – The Hague, the Netherlands
October 12, 2026
