Indian killed in Riyadh airport attack on October 10; MEA condemns Houthi strikes

The embassy said it was in touch with Saudi authorities to inquire about the well-being of the injured Indians.

India on Sunday strongly condemned repeated attacks by Houthi rebels on the international airport in Saudi Arabia’s capital, including the latest strike that killed 13 people, including an Indian, and called for an immediate end to the targeting of civilian infrastructure across the region.

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Initial reports following Saturday's attack on King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh said 12 people were killed and 309 others injured. The Indian embassy in Riyadh said on social media late on Sunday night that one of 11 Indian nationals injured in the attack had “unfortunately lost his life”.

“Deeply grieved at the loss of life of an Indian national in the Riyadh attack. My heartfelt condolences to the bereaved family. The Embassy will extend all possible assistance,” external affairs minister S Jaishankar said on social media.

Also read: ‘Deeply grieved’: Jaishankar assures all assistance to family of Indian killed in Riyadh attack

The Indian side expressed solidarity with Saudi Arabia in the defence of the country’s sovereignty against the backdrop of an escalation in attacks by Iran-backed Houthi rebels as the war in West Asia expands. This was the third attack on the King Khalid international airport over the past week.

“We strongly condemn the repeated attacks on Riyadh’s King Khalid International Airport over the past few days, including the dastardly attack on October 10, which have led to loss of lives, injuries and damage to property,” the external affairs ministry said in a statement that did not name anyone for the attacks.

“We stand in solidarity with the people and the government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in defence of their sovereignty, and hope that peace and normalcy returns to the region at the earliest,” the statement said.

Also read: Riyadh airport ops halted, Houthis' fresh warning: Major escalation after latest strike kills 12 in Saudi

The Indian embassy in Riyadh said it was in touch with Saudi authorities to ensure the well-being of injured Indians.

The external affairs ministry statement described the repeated attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure as “completely unacceptable” and said they “must cease immediately”.

The Indian side expressed condolences to the families of the dead and wished for the speedy recovery of the injured. Nearly 20 Indians have died so far in the West Asia conflict, which began in February.

Saudi Arabia is home to more than four million Indians, one of the largest concentrations of the diaspora in West Asia.

Saturday’s attack on the airport was the deadliest in Saudi Arabia in more than a decade, as the Houthis escalated a campaign they launched in summer.

The dead included four Saudi nationals, two Bangladeshis and one national each from Egypt, Jordan, Palestine, Syria, Sudan and the US, the Saudi civil aviation authority said.

Two earlier attacks on the same airport last week killed four people and caused extensive damage to a Saudi commercial plane. The strikes also exposed vulnerabilities in Saudi Arabia’s defence capabilities as the kingdom wages an air campaign against the Houthis to support a ground war by the Yemeni government against the group.

President Donald Trump said the US is considering joining Saudi strikes on Houthis in the conflict, a spillover from the war on Iran that the US and Israel started in February.

Saudi Arabia entered the war in Yemen in 2015 at the head of a coalition that aimed to force the Houthis out of the Yemeni capital Sanaa. The war turned into a stalemate, with hundreds of thousands of Yemenis killed by fighting and famine. A 2022 ceasefire by the Saudis and the Houthis unravelled this summer, culminating in a sudden Houthi advance that took the Red Sea chokepoint of Bab el-Mandeb from Saudi-backed government forces.

Rezaul Hasan Laskar is Foreign Editor with the Hindustan Times, which he joined in 2015. He began as a journalist in his hometown of Shillong in northeast India and has worked in newspapers and wire services over the years. He moved to New Delhi in 1997 and initially focused on defence, national security, Jammu and Kashmir and the northeast, while also working of foreign policy and international relations. He has been part of the media delegation accompanying PMs on foreign visits and has reported from destinations ranging from Tibet to Ukraine. Between 2007 and 2013, he was the Press Trust of India correspondent in Pakistan, one of only two Indian journalists allowed to report from the country. He extensively covered Pakistan’s domestic politics and the life of the common people, as well as the fallout of the 2008 Mumbai attacks on India-Pakistan relations and the subsequent trial in Pakistan of the suspects involved in the attack. As part of his reportage in Pakistan, he travelled the breadth of the country, from the Swat Valley to Balochistan. Reza’s first gig in journalism was writing a weekly music column, and music – especially classic rock – remains a keen interest. He is also a movie buff and a keen photographer.Read More