At least 12 people were killed and 309 wounded in a Houthi attack on Riyadh's King Khalid International Airport on Saturday, Saudi authorities said on Sunday — the deadliest attack in the kingdom in more than a decade.
Saudi Arabia's civil aviation authority said the dead included four Saudi citizens, two Bangladeshis and one citizen each from the United States, Jordan, Palestine, Syria, Sudan and Egypt. It was the third strike on the international hub this week, and it came without warning — the country's threat alert system issued no alert.
Hospitals flooded with casualties
Hospitals were flooded with wounded brought by ambulance and helicopter, people briefed on the matter told Reuters, with some in critical condition. An eyewitness told Reuters of an explosion and people lying injured inside the airport, with part of a ceiling near a departure gate collapsing.
The week's two earlier attacks on the airport had killed four people and severely damaged a Saudi commercial aircraft parked on the tarmac. All flights to Riyadh were diverted on Saturday and airport operations were temporarily suspended.
Vows of retaliation
The Saudi-led military coalition vowed a "decisive" response, calling the strike a "full-fledged war crime". The head of the Houthi media office claimed on X that the group had "shut down Riyadh international airport"; the Houthis have declared Saudi airspace a military-operations zone after the Saudi-backed Yemeni government launched an offensive against them earlier in the week. Saudi Arabia blamed the Houthis for the attack, and a diplomatic source attributed it to a missile — attribution not officially confirmed.
US President Donald Trump called the attack "terrible", said he would speak with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman soon and was evaluating whether the US should join Saudi strikes on the Houthis: "We may. We're gonna look at it... We'll move very quickly." Secretary of State Marco Rubio condemned the attacks and confirmed an American was among those killed. UN special envoy for Yemen Hans Grundberg called the strikes "a grave escalation"; condemnations also came from Egypt, Qatar, Palestine, Pakistan and Japan. The US embassy in Riyadh advised citizens to avoid the airport and surrounding areas.
Reuters could not independently verify competing claims around the wider conflict — Saudi and Yemeni-government claims of hundreds of strikes on Houthi targets, or Houthi claims of civilian deaths there.
Sources:
CNN — Major Houthi attack on Saudi airport kills at least 12, hundreds wounded
GMA News Online (Reuters) — Houthi attack on Saudi airport kills 12, over 300 wounded
Al Jazeera — World condemns deadly Houthi attack on Riyadh airport
Saudi Arabia's civil aviation authority said the dead included four Saudi citizens, two Bangladeshis and one citizen each from the United States, Jordan, Palestine, Syria, Sudan and Egypt. It was the third strike on the international hub this week, and it came without warning — the country's threat alert system issued no alert.
Hospitals flooded with casualties
Hospitals were flooded with wounded brought by ambulance and helicopter, people briefed on the matter told Reuters, with some in critical condition. An eyewitness told Reuters of an explosion and people lying injured inside the airport, with part of a ceiling near a departure gate collapsing.
The week's two earlier attacks on the airport had killed four people and severely damaged a Saudi commercial aircraft parked on the tarmac. All flights to Riyadh were diverted on Saturday and airport operations were temporarily suspended.
Vows of retaliation
The Saudi-led military coalition vowed a "decisive" response, calling the strike a "full-fledged war crime". The head of the Houthi media office claimed on X that the group had "shut down Riyadh international airport"; the Houthis have declared Saudi airspace a military-operations zone after the Saudi-backed Yemeni government launched an offensive against them earlier in the week. Saudi Arabia blamed the Houthis for the attack, and a diplomatic source attributed it to a missile — attribution not officially confirmed.
US President Donald Trump called the attack "terrible", said he would speak with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman soon and was evaluating whether the US should join Saudi strikes on the Houthis: "We may. We're gonna look at it... We'll move very quickly." Secretary of State Marco Rubio condemned the attacks and confirmed an American was among those killed. UN special envoy for Yemen Hans Grundberg called the strikes "a grave escalation"; condemnations also came from Egypt, Qatar, Palestine, Pakistan and Japan. The US embassy in Riyadh advised citizens to avoid the airport and surrounding areas.
Reuters could not independently verify competing claims around the wider conflict — Saudi and Yemeni-government claims of hundreds of strikes on Houthi targets, or Houthi claims of civilian deaths there.
Sources:
CNN — Major Houthi attack on Saudi airport kills at least 12, hundreds wounded
GMA News Online (Reuters) — Houthi attack on Saudi airport kills 12, over 300 wounded
Al Jazeera — World condemns deadly Houthi attack on Riyadh airport
