Rooma News : Houthi Missile Strike on Riyadh Airport Kills at Least 12 More than 300 injured as operations at King Khalid International are suspended.

 Islamabad

Sunday, October 11, 2026

By Rooma Mehmood

RoomaNews

The world and Pakistan, in one Sunday edition

World

Houthi Missile Strike on Riyadh Airport Kills at Least 12

More than 300 injured as operations at King Khalid International are suspended.

Saudi authorities extended the closure of the airport after the attack. The United States has indicated it may join Saudi responses.

Zaporizhzhia Strike Kills 15–20

A Russian attack hit a residential building, with some reports including children among the dead. Zelenskyy criticized a reported US-Russia diesel deal, while Trump called for Ukraine to replace its leadership. Ukraine kept up drone strikes on Russian infrastructure.

Delhi Locked Down Ahead of Protests

Security forces detained around 7,000 people to stop the "Cockroach" youth movement demanding the election commissioner's resignation. Leaders were later released in some accounts.

7.7 Quake Hits Panama

Buildings were damaged, dozens injured and tsunami warnings issued. Widespread destruction was largely avoided.

United States

Weakening Hurricane Isaias made landfall on the Florida panhandle, with at least four deaths across Florida and Alabama. A mass shooting in Erie, Pennsylvania, killed eight.

In Brief

Navi Pillay criticized US sanctions on the ICC. Flooding in Nepal's Gorkha District left people missing. Pro-Palestine marches took place in several European cities.

Pakistan

Centre Weighs Emergency Rule in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

PTI rejects the move as Chief Minister Sohail Afridi vows resistance.

The federal government is moving toward an emergency and/or governor's rule amid a PTI long march led by Afridi. PM Shehbaz Sharif and President Asif Ali Zardari held high-level meetings on the security and political situation. Reports point to a new chief secretary and an advisory council structure.

Infiltration Foiled in Kurram

Security forces killed 12 terrorists and Afghan Taliban personnel; one soldier was martyred. Terrorists were also killed in Barkhan and North Waziristan, and arms smuggling from Afghanistan was foiled.

Islamabad Stands With Riyadh

Pakistan condemned the airport attack, reaffirmed support for Saudi sovereignty and urged action against strikes on civilian infrastructure. PIA temporarily halted some Riyadh flights.

Jamaat-e-Islami Presses on Petroleum Levy

The party links talks with the PM to a levy cut and threatens protests.

Domestic Digest

Gilgit-Baltistan tightened security for foreigners, especially Chinese nationals. A suspect was arrested in a student suicide case involving alleged online blackmail. KP plans a World Bank-supported fiscal reform programme.

Editorial

Navigating Turbulence at Home and Abroad

The Houthi strike on Riyadh's main airport is a stark reminder that regional conflicts can escalate quickly and hit civilians. It should prompt unified condemnation and renewed diplomacy rather than further cycles of retaliation. Meanwhile Ukraine's war keeps claiming lives, and natural disasters from Panama to Nepal show that preparedness matters more than reactive headlines.

At home, the standoff in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa dominates. Concerns over governance, terrorism and public order are genuine, yet emergency tools carry long-term costs if seen as partisan.

Lasting progress needs institutional dialogue, security resources aimed at real threats, as in the recent border operations, and attention to the petroleum prices, inflation and service delivery that fuel public frustration. Pakistan's support for Saudi Arabia fits longstanding ties, and rejecting attacks on civilian infrastructure should guide foreign policy consistently.

The path forward lies less in dramatic gestures than in steady, evidence-based governance: protecting civilians, upholding constitutional norms, investing in resilience and keeping channels of negotiation open.

RoomaNews · Published in Islamabad · By Rooma Mehmood