— The Houthis strike Riyadh's King Khalid International Airport four times in five days, including the deadliest attack on Saudi soil in more than a decade.
— Former BND chief August Hanning, who led Germany's foreign intelligence service from 1998 to 2005, is arrested on suspicion of espionage along with his former chief of staff.
— UKMTO reports six strikes on merchant ships around the Strait of Hormuz in a single day — an unprecedented rate in the current conflict, if confirmed.
I.
The Houthis turn Riyadh's airport into a target
Yemen's Houthi movement struck King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh four times in five days. Strikes on 7 and 8 October killed several people, injured dozens and damaged aircraft on the ground. On Saturday 10 October, a missile killed at least 12 people and injured more than 300 — the deadliest attack on Saudi soil in more than a decade. A further strike on 11 October hit Terminals 3 and 4, killing one person and injuring 11. Airports in Jazan, Najran and Dammam were also targeted.
Operations in Riyadh were suspended and all flights diverted or cancelled. Air India, flydubai, the Lufthansa Group and Pakistan International Airlines were among the carriers that had already halted services to Saudi airports. The US, Canadian, German and Spanish embassies advised their citizens to avoid Riyadh airport. The Houthis warned airlines and travellers against using Saudi airports altogether, exempting only those serving Mecca and Medina.
The campaign, launched in the summer after the collapse of a truce dating from 2022, has moved from the border regions to the capital. Investigators are now asking why missiles and drones that flew more than 1,000 km were not detected earlier. On 12 October, UAE presidential adviser Anwar Gargash called for a revival of joint Gulf defence, warning that "our security is indivisible."
Former BND chief August Hanning arrested on suspicion of espionage
On 6 October, German police arrested August Hanning, 80, who led the Federal Intelligence Service (BND) from 1998 to 2005, at his home near Münster. His former chief of staff, identified as Manfred D., who later served as chief of staff to several BND presidents until 2026, was arrested in Bavaria. Both were remanded in custody.
Federal prosecutors allege that the two men agreed in 2010 that Manfred D. would regularly pass BND material to Hanning for payment. About 2,000 documents, many of them classified, are said to have been supplied until June 2022, and used by Hanning in his private consulting work. In one instance, prosecutors say, he used classified material to prepare an analysis for an employee of a foreign intelligence service. Prosecutors have not named the country concerned. Hanning is strongly suspected of treasonous espionage and attempted treason.
The case emerged from a separate investigation into a 2024 child abduction in Denmark, in which Hanning is suspected of involvement through a private security firm. Members of the parliamentary oversight committee are now calling for limits on the consultancy work of former senior intelligence officials. The case is a reminder that the most damaging leaks rarely come from outside.
Key terms — et leur équivalent français
Federal Intelligence Service (BND)
service fédéral de renseignement extérieur allemand
Six ships hit in one day near the Strait of Hormuz
On Sunday 11 October, the UK Maritime Trade Operations centre (UKMTO) reported six strikes on merchant vessels around the Strait of Hormuz in a single day, which it described as "an unprecedented rate during the current conflict, if accurate." Targets included tankers north and north-east of the Musandam Peninsula, a container ship at the eastern entrance of the strait, and the small product tanker Petro Dolphin off Sohar, Oman, where two seafarers were reported missing and nine rescued.
These followed three attacks between 9 and 10 October, including a vessel set on fire off Sharjah, bringing the number of suspected Iranian strikes to more than 20 in a month. UKMTO did not attribute the attacks, but Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps released footage of a strike on a UAE-owned supertanker and warned that cooperation with the US military would "face our decisive response."
The commercial effects are immediate. At least ten very large crude carriers heading for Fujairah stopped or turned back, and charter rates reached record highs: pausing or reversing a voyage can cost up to $1.4 million a day for a single supertanker. For shippers and insurers, the strait is no longer a route with occasional incidents but a zone of sustained attack.
Key terms — et leur équivalent français
merchant vessel
navire marchand
product tanker ≠ crude tanker
pétrolier de produits raffinés ≠ pétrolier de brut
Attribution is the process of establishing who is responsible for an attack. It sounds simple and rarely is. This week, UKMTO recorded six strikes in a day near Hormuz without naming the attacker; German prosecutors described a former spy chief working for a foreign intelligence service without saying which one; and British police are still weighing an Iranian link to the plot near RAF Fairford. Attribution operates on several levels: technical (what was used), operational (who carried it out) and political (who ordered it, and whether a government is ready to say so publicly). Analysts should therefore distinguish carefully between suspected, assessed and confirmed. (Attribution — imputation, attribution d'une attaque.)
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The week's essentials in defence, security and intelligence, assessed from open sources: in English, with key terms translated into French.