Houthi Strike on Riyadh Airport Kills 12 and Wounds 309

A missile strike on King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh killed 12 people and injured 309 others on Saturday, Saudi civil aviation authorities said early Sunday. The dead included four Saudi citizens, two Bangladeshis, and one person each from the United States, Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Palestine and Sudan. The General Authority of Civil Aviation confirmed the nationalities in a statement and noted that some of the wounded remain in critical condition while receiving treatment at several hospitals across the capital.

Operations at the airport, which serves a city of roughly eight million people, were suspended immediately after the strike. Flights were diverted, and the suspension was later extended by 24 hours. The Saudi-led coalition spokesman, Major General Turki al-Maliki, called the attack on one of the passenger terminals a full-fledged war crime. He attributed it to Iran-backed Houthi forces in Yemen and said it targeted civilian passengers and airport staff.

The Saturday strike was the third on King Khalid International Airport this week. Attacks on Thursday killed three people, including a Saudia pilot, and caused heavy damage to a commercial plane parked on the tarmac. A separate projectile fell near King Fahd International Airport in Dammam on the same day. Houthi media accounts posted that the group had shut down Riyadh international airport, though the group has not issued a formal claim of responsibility for the latest incident.

The attacks form part of a sharp escalation that began after a truce between the Houthis and Saudi-backed Yemeni government forces unravelled in July. Yemeni government forces, supported by Saudi air power, launched an offensive earlier this week. The Houthis have responded with a series of strikes on Saudi targets, including warnings to commercial airliners to avoid Saudi airspace. The group has described Saudi airspace as a zone of military operations.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio strongly condemned the recent attacks and confirmed that an American citizen was killed. Several countries, including the United States, the United Kingdom, Spain and Canada, have issued warnings to their citizens against using the airport. Hospitals in Riyadh activated mass casualty protocols. Medical sources reported a rare mass call-up of doctors. Witnesses inside the terminal described an explosion, people lying injured on the ground, and a rapid response by ambulances and helicopters.

This is the deadliest attack on Saudi soil since at least 2015 and the worst in the kingdom in more than a decade. It is also the deadliest since the broader regional conflict expanded. The strike occurred without a prior public warning from Saudi threat systems, according to local reports. Footage analysed by multiple news agencies showed emergency vehicles outside the airport complex that houses terminals 3 and 4 for domestic flights.

President Donald Trump has said the United States is considering joining strikes against the Houthis. The Saudi coalition has vowed a decisive response. Damage assessments at the airport continue. The disruption has affected civilian travel in and out of the capital and highlighted vulnerabilities in air defence coverage during an active military campaign.

The incident raises concrete questions about the capacity of Gulf states to protect major civilian infrastructure amid the unravelling of previous de-escalation arrangements in Yemen. Further civilian casualties remain possible if the cycle of strikes and counter-strikes continues without a new pause in fighting. Saudi authorities have not yet released a full list of the injured or detailed the extent of structural damage to the terminal.