A third attack on Riyadh's international airport in a week killed at least 12 people and injured 309 on Saturday, Saudi authorities said, as Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi rebels claimed responsibility for the strike, marking a major escalation in their campaign against the kingdom
The Saudi civil aviation authority said the dead included four Saudi nationals, two people from Bangladesh and one each from the United States, Jordan, Palestine, Syria, Sudan and Egypt. Hospitals were overwhelmed with casualties arriving by ambulance and helicopter, with some of the injured in critical condition, people briefed on the matter said.
The attack came without warning, and Saudi Arabia's threat warning system did not issue an alert. The two earlier attacks on King Khalid International Airport this week killed four people and heavily damaged a Saudi commercial aircraft parked on the tarmac
Reacting to reports of the latest attack, Trump called it “terrible” and described the Saudis as “good fighters”, while saying Washington was weighing its options.
When asked whether Washington planned to join Saudi Arabia’s strikes on the Houthis, the US President said, “We may. We’re going to look at it. We just found out about the recent attack, so we’ll make a decision. We move very quickly."
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Saturday strongly condemned the recent attacks on Saudi Arabia, saying an American citizen was among those killed in the strikes.
“These reprehensible attacks demonstrate a blatant disregard for innocent civilian life. They must stop now,” Rubio said in a post on X.
AIRPORT SHUT DOWN, FLIGHTS DIVERTED
All flights to Riyadh were diverted on Saturday, and airport operations were temporarily suspended, the Saudi civil aviation authority said. The airport serves a city of around eight million people.
The head of the Houthi media office said in a post on X after the attack that the group had "shut down Riyadh international airport".
The rebels have urged airlines to avoid Saudi airspace, declaring it a military operations zone after the Saudi-backed Yemeni government launched an offensive against them on Monday.
Flight-tracking website Flightradar24 showed that all flights to Riyadh had either been cancelled or diverted. At one point, only a helicopter was seen hovering over the airport.
An eyewitness said they saw an explosion followed by several injured people lying on the ground inside the airport. More than a dozen ambulances were seen heading towards the facility. A video verified by Reuters also showed ambulances at the airport.
An injured traveller told Reuters they had seen something flying across the sky outside the airport before part of the ceiling near a departure gate collapsed.
The US embassy in Riyadh said it was "aware of attacks" and "strongly recommends all US citizens avoid this airport and surrounding areas".
TRUMP WEIGHS POSSIBLE US INVOLVEMENT
US President Donald Trump said Washington could consider joining Saudi strikes against the Houthis, but had not yet made a decision.
Asked by reporters outside the White House whether the United States planned to participate in the strikes, Trump said, "We may. We're going to look at it. We just found out about the recent attack, so we'll make a decision. We move very quickly."
The latest attacks have exposed vulnerabilities in Saudi Arabia's air defences as the kingdom conducts an air campaign against the Houthis in support of a ground offensive by Yemen's internationally recognised government.
Saudi Arabia and the Yemeni government have reported hundreds of strikes against targets in Houthi-controlled territory. The Houthis have said the attacks killed civilians, including women and children. Reuters could not independently verify the claims.
YEMEN CONFLICT ESCALATES AFTER CEASEFIRE UNRAVELS
Saudi Arabia entered Yemen's civil war in 2015, leading an Arab coalition to drive the Houthis out of the capital, Sanaa. The rebels had seized the city the previous year, forcing government forces out.
The conflict reached a bloody stalemate, with fighting and famine killing hundreds of thousands of Yemenis. A deal between Saudi Arabia and the Houthis in 2022 brought a halt to much of the fighting.
That truce began to unravel over the summer, culminating in a rapid Houthi advance that wrested control of the strategic Bab el-Mandeb chokepoint on the Red Sea from Saudi-backed government forces.
The Yemeni government launched an offensive this week to retake the territory, making limited progress so far. Meanwhile, the Houthis have placed Taiz, Yemen's third-largest city, under siege.
RIYADH CONFERENCES TO PROCEED DESPITE ATTACKS
The latest strikes have disrupted air travel to the Saudi capital just days before Riyadh is due to host major energy and investment conferences.
Attacks on Thursday and earlier in the week had already prompted several airlines to suspend or cancel services to the city.
Organisers of the upcoming conferences said on Saturday that the events would proceed as planned, seeking to reassure participants about security arrangements.
