Houthi Strike on Riyadh Airport Kills 12, Hurts Over 300 as Saudi Coalition Promises Decisive Response
At least 12 people were killed and more than 300 others injured when an attack hit King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh, in what Saudi authorities say is the deadliest strike on the kingdom’s soil in more than a decade.
Saudi Arabia’s civil aviation authority said on Sunday that 309 people were wounded in Saturday’s attack, some of them in critical condition. It said the dead included four Saudi citizens, two Bangladeshis and others from overseas, with eight of the 12 victims foreign nationals. Operations at the airport were suspended.
One injured traveller described seeing something streak across the sky outside the terminal before part of the ceiling near a departure gate collapsed.
The coalition led by Saudi Arabia blamed the Houthi movement in Yemen, which is backed by Iran. A Houthi media chief claimed that the group had shut down the airport. Coalition spokesman Major General Turki Al Malki called the strike a full blown war crime under customary international humanitarian law, and said the coalition would respond decisively in line with international law.
It was the third attack on the airport this week and comes after a Houthi campaign against the kingdom that began over the summer. Earlier strikes this week had already left Saudi nationals dead, including a pilot.
The attack drew swift condemnation. The United States, Qatar, Egypt, Oman and Pakistan were among those who denounced it, while the British, Irish and Canadian embassies warned their citizens, with Canada advising them to avoid travelling to the airport because of ongoing military activity. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the Houthis must stop now and that Washington stands with the kingdom.
President Donald Trump, asked whether the United States would join any Saudi military response, said it might, adding that Washington would look at it and decide quickly. The question has become part of a wider debate in Washington over whether to strike the Houthis and whether to resume attacks on Iran, as fears grow that the war could spread further across the Gulf.
