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Conflict Events Archive
15,235 documented events · latest Oct 12, 2026 — chronological archive with full summaries and multi-source verification.
Saudi warning system stayed silent before deadly airport attacks
RIYADH, Oct 13 (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia stopped issuing public warnings of imminent military attacks days before a series of deadly strikes on Riyadh airport that killed at least 18 people and wounded more than 300. The government has not said why there were no alerts to the public before the four Riyadh attacks in the past week. The warnings had served to highlight the violence undermining the kingdom's efforts to project an image of calm to its people and the world during its war with Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis. Their absence during the airport strikes raised questions about Saudi Arabia's vulnerability to attack and about its ability to protect residents and visitors, four Western and Arab officials in the region and political analysts told Reuters. It also reflected efforts to maintain a sense of normalcy, they said. "They (the Saudi government) want to have it both ways: to launch a military operation and at the same time try to give confidence to the population and external stakeholders," said Sultan Alamer, a US-based Saudi academic and Senior Resident Fellow at the Middle East Policy Council think tank. The Saudi civil defence - a national emergency management, rescue and firefighting agency which operates under the interior ministry and issues early warning alerts - and the Saudi government media office did not respond to emailed questions on why no alerts were issued. Saudi Arabia's approach is also one that some regional analysts said risked backfiring because the absence of warnings has heightened uncertainty in the kingdom. On Monday, Saudi Arabia's civil defence authority issued its first alerts since September 29, warning of potential threats in Riyadh and southern cities. Reuters was unable to ascertain whether the decision to issue alerts again was a response to the airport attacks, and the Saudi government did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the matter. SYSTEM GOES SILENT All Gulf countries have been hit by Iranian drones and missiles since the US-Iran war began in February, but their governments have handled public warnings differently. Qatar's interior ministry has issued mobile phone alerts before nearly every attack, including most recent attacks in July, when residents were warned to stay inside and away from windows. Bahrain and Kuwait have repeatedly sounded sirens urging people to take shelter. Saudi Arabia began issuing threat alerts to mobile phones and social media accounts via a national early warning system in May. But despite increasing Houthi attacks leading up to last week, the system went silent. The last alert before last week's attacks was issued on September 29, for the southern province of Najran, according to posts on the civil defence X account. The civil defences authority has continued to issue warnings about staying out of harm's way during adverse weather, including rain and flooding, and did so as recently as Monday. It also warned residents not to share images, rumours or information about interceptions and impact sites, including in a post on Monday, under government regulations issued in March. Reuters could not determine whether anyone had faced prosecution for sharing such information, and the Saudi government media office did not respond to a request for comment on the matter. Before last week's airport attacks, officials from an allied Western government asked Saudi authorities why the alerts had stopped, two officials with direct knowledge of the matter said. The response was that the alerts were too disruptive and many citizens had complained they were being woken by them at night, the officials said. The Saudi government media office and Saudi officials did not respond to requests for comment on the assertion. Former US ambassador to Saudi Arabia Michael Ratney said Riyadh was trying to balance public messaging on attacks with efforts to prevent disruption in the kingdom but had ended up adding to a sense of unease about the strikes. "Their approach to public messaging seems like a corollary to the quandary they are in: They need to respond to the Houthis but don't want that to result in societal disruption and their public messaging is a reflection of that," he said. "But the lack of alerts of incoming Houthi attacks creates the very nervousness they are trying to avoid." NEW THREAT ALERT Ali Shihabi, a Saudi analyst close to the government, said that with or without early warnings, the kingdom would struggle to defend all of its assets because of its size. "In Saudi Arabia you have too much to protect. It's a huge country with airports, pipelines and oil facilities. There is just not enough coverage to defend everything at once, not enough Patriots (missile defence systems), interceptors and missile batteries to do it all," he said. "Saudi Arabia has an unlimited need for air defences," he added." Despite the attacks, Saudi Arabia hosted an international conference on Monday, though major oil bosses dropped out. At the World Petroleum Council Energy Congress in Riyadh, Saudi Prince Abdulaziz bin Salaman, a brother of the Saudi crown prince and the kingdom's energy minister, struck a defiant tone while acknowledging risks and Saudi Arabia's intent to keep its economic plans on track. He thanked all who had travelled to Riyadh "because you know this country is safe" but added: "Our gatheringhere does not mean the risk is gone." "We will never forfeit any chance to maintain our commitment and our vision," he said. EMBASSIES ISSUE THEIR OWN INTERNAL ALERTS Despite no public alerts being issued this month until Monday, Riyadh has been attacked about a dozen times, two of the Western officials said. During that time, Western embassies in the kingdom have been issuing their own internal missile and drone alerts to staff, according to three people familiar with the matter and alerts seen by Reuters. These internal alerts are compiled from a mixture of US and other Western government intelligence and input from Saudi authorities, one of those people said. They include alerts sent to staff around the time of two first airport strikes last week according to the people familiar with the matter. They said that even the embassies had received no internal warning before Saturday's airport strike, without offering an explanation. Reuters could not determine why no warning came before Saturday's attack, the deadliest of last week's attacks. On Sunday, Saudi state TV released footage of Saturday's strike. It showed several shots of travellers in the airport terminal. Dozens lined up to board a flight. Men and women sat in chairs waiting, their eyes trained on the screens of their mobile phones as they scrolled. Then, the bright orange flash of a missile explosion. (Reporting by Timour Azhari; Editing by Andrew Mills and Timothy Heritage)
Ukrainian forces attack DPR settlements nine times over past day
No reports of civilian casualties were received
Latvia launches reconnaissance drone along borders with Russia, Belarus
This refers to the Penguin C UAS, designed to detect moving targets, conduct surveillance and gather intelligence
Poland says two Turks arrested over Russia-linked Starlink station fire
Warsaw says the 2 suspects held in Germany will face sabotage charges.
Conflict, drought increasing risk of famine in Sudan: Monitor
Conflict, drought increasing risk of famine in Sudan: Monitor El Nino-induced drought is affecting roughly half of the country as three-year long war continues. Conflict and drought are increasing the risk of famine across Sudan’s Darfur and Kordofan regions, warns a global food crisis monitor. “An El Nino-induced drought, affecting roughly half of the country, is compounding the impacts of conflict and displacement, reducing food availability, driving up prices and affecting livelihoods,” the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) said on Monday in a statement. Recommended Storieslist of 3 items - list 1 of 3UN rights council condemns attacks on civilians in Sudan, calls for truce - list 2 of 3Sudan’s al-Burhan rejects talks, vows to retake all territory from RSF - list 3 of 3Drone strike kills 30 people in Sudan’s Blue Nile region “Healthcare is extremely limited, often entirely inaccessible, while clean water is becoming increasingly scarce, leaving a poorly nourished population highly vulnerable to disease and death,” it added. The IPC is an initiative aimed at enhancing food security and consists of 21 organisations and intergovernmental institutions, including the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the World Bank, the World Food Programme (WFP) and the World Health Organization (WHO). ‘Food insecurity, acute malnutrition and excess mortality’ Farmers’ livelihoods have deteriorated and dependence on food assistance is on the rise, said the IPC. “Food insecurity, acute malnutrition and excess mortality will likely intensify,” it warned. Poor vegetation growth affects nearly two-thirds of cropland in North Darfur and about half in South Darfur, West Kordofan and South Kordofan, where severe water shortages and limited opportunity for agricultural recovery threaten livelihoods. The IPC reported worsening acute malnutrition in additional areas, including Nyala, where the proportion of children accessing nutrition services who were admitted for severe acute malnutrition doubled from approximately 5% to 11% between January and August. Two displacement camps in South Darfur also recorded global acute malnutrition above famine thresholds. In North Darfur, delayed rains that impacted crop cultivation and “critically low” food stocks have worsened food insecurity, it added. Western Kordofan is suffering one of its worst droughts since 2004 amid poor rainfall. The lasting effect as conflict persists In May, nearly 19.5 million people, over 40% of the population, were facing high levels of acute food insecurity, according to an IPC assessment. Of those, 135,000 were in Phase 5, the most severe classification, characterised by extreme food shortages, starvation, very high levels of malnutrition and deaths from disease or acute malnutrition. Sudan’s war erupted in April 2023 when tensions between the military and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), escalated into open fighting in the capital, Khartoum, before spreading across the country. The conflict has killed at least 150,000 people, according to conflict monitor ACLED, though aid groups say the actual toll is likely higher. About 13 million people have been displaced. The army holds sway in Sudan’s central and eastern regions, while the Darfur region in the west and parts of the south are under control of the rival RSF. The arid Darfur region, which is about the size of Spain, has faced some of the worst violence, with displacement camps invaded and ethnic cleansing killing thousands at a time.
EU criticism of US-Russia diesel deal hypocritical — presidential envoy
Thus Kirill Dmitriev commented on Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak’s statement that Europe had received $320.7 billion worth of Russian energy supplies since 2022
Why do Iran’s oil ‘intermediaries’ owe the government billions?
Iran says intermediaries handling its oil sales owe it billions of dollars, but how did the debts accumulate?
EU conceals purchasing $320 bln worth energy source from Russia — RDIF CEO
Kirill Dmitriev also emphasized that the US-Russia diesel deal benefits US farmers, consumers, the energy market and the world
China: US may launch new airstrikes on Houthis after Riyadh airport attacks: expert. | Flipboard
China: US may launch new airstrikes on Houthis after Riyadh airport attacks: expert. As clashes between Saudi Arabia and Yemen's Houthi group continue to escalate, the United States may launch a new round of airstrikes against the Houthis, potentially heightening regional tensions and making Yemen a core flashpoint in the Middle East conflict, according to a Chinese expert. Fighting between the Houthis and the Saudi-led coalition showed no sign of abating on Sunday, as a fresh wave of attacks struck major Saudi airports. The Houthis claimed responsibility for new missile and drone operations against the airports and energy facilities, while the coalition vowed a firm response. Saudi Arabia's General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA) reported casualties from a new attack on King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh on Sunday -- the fourth to hit the hub in four days, after two strikes on Oct. 8 and another on Saturday afternoon -- and moved to suspend operations for damage assessments and safety checks. GACA later said King Fahd International Airport near Dammam had also come under attack on Sunday evening, with inspections underway to gauge the extent of the damage. Speaking in an interview with China Media Group (CMG), Wang Jin, a professor at the Institute of Middle East Studies of Northwest University, said the U.S. is highly likely to launch a new round of airstrikes against the Houthis, but he expects any such campaign to be limited in scale and difficult to sustain, driven mainly by the need to preserve U.S.-Saudi military ties and respond to the American casualties from the airport attacks. Looking further ahead, Wang expects U.S. military strikes to become an important new variable for Yemen and the wider region, as the standoff between the United States and Iran continues and the situation on the Yemeni battlefield enters a new phase. The war in Yemen, he said, is still far from over -- and where it heads next may decide whether the country becomes the decisive flashpoint of the wider Middle East conflict. Shotlist: Xi'an City, Shaanxi Province, northwest China - Oct 11, 2026: Washington D.C., USA - Sept 24, 2026 1. Various of White House, U.S. national flags; Xi'an City, Shaanxi Province, northwest China - Oct 11, 2026 2. SOUNDBITE (Chinese) Wang Jin, professor, Institute of Middle East Studies, Northwest University: "The U.S. has threatened to launch a new round of strikes against the Houthis, and the probability of such action is very high. Over the past two to three days, the situation on the Yemeni battlefield and the … More stories from StringersHub Join the flipboard community Discover, collect, and share stories for all your interestsSign up More stories from Yemen Saudis probe how defense systems failed to stop deadly Houthi attack on Riyadh airport CAIRO (AP) — Saudi Arabia has launched an investigation to determine how its air defenses failed to intercept a barrage of missiles and drones fired by Iran-backed Houthi rebels, including an attack on Riyadh airport that killed at least 13 people and wounded over 300, two regional officials said … Saudis probe how defense systems failed to stop deadly Houthi attack on Riyadh airport CAIRO (AP) — Saudi Arabia has launched an investigation to determine how its air defenses failed to intercept a barrage of missiles and drones fired …
Israel demolitions in Negev displace 400 Palestinians
Israeli authorities have demolished 80 structures in Al-Dahiya village in Israel’s Negev Desert
Three aircraft flying from Turkey to Moscow head back — source
The aircraft are expected to land at Istanbul’s Sabiha Gokcen International Airport
Israeli strike on tent in Gaza’s Khan Younis kills three
Israeli strike on tent in Gaza’s Khan Younis kills three
Ukraine’s ex-PM slams Zelensky’s remarks on truce for elections as unserious
This is a perfect pretext for him to do nothing to be re-elected, Nikolay Azarov said
Houthis say they attacked Riyadh airport with ballistic missile
The strike was precise, Houthi spokesman Yahya Saria wrote
Reform UK leader says will revise assistance to Ukraine due to corruption there
Nigel Farage described Ukraine as one of the most corrupt countries in the world
Russia could reach diesel export volumes of 3-3.5 mln tons per month in 2026 — Novak
Deputy Prime Minister noted that additional supplies from Russia are already having an impact
Russia has supplied energy resources worth over $320 billion to Europe since 2022 — Novak
Thus, according to the Deputy Prime Minister, this figure is even higher than the one previously cited by the US side, which estimated European spending on supplies from the Russian Federation at $250 billion
Russian diesel exports to help stabilize global oil market — deputy PM
Alexander Novak noted that the oil prices have almost doubled, and new supplies from Russia are already having an effect
Rising freight, transport costs account for bulk of oil price increase — Novak
According to Russian Deputy Prime Minister, during a meeting in Riyadh, OPEC and OPEC+ ministers discussed the global surge in transport, freight, and insurance costs, which have increased five-to tenfold on certain routes
Russia's domestic market will not suffer from increased diesel exports — Novak
Supplies will remain sufficient to complete all seasonal agricultural work, Deputy Prime Minister said