A missile attack on King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh killed 12 people and wounded more than 300 others, Saudi civil aviation authorities said, and the kingdom has extended the airport’s closure as the Houthis threaten more strikes.
A Saudi led military coalition blamed the Iran backed Houthi rebels in neighboring Yemen and called the attack a “fully fledged war crime.” The airport has no military facilities, the Associated Press reported.
Some of the injured are in critical condition. Airport operations were suspended Saturday, and the closure was extended by 24 hours until at least 9 p.m. Sunday, according to the flight tracking platform Flightradar24.
What We Know So Far
A missile hit the complex housing terminals 3 and 4, which handle domestic flights, a regional official told the AP on condition of anonymity because the official was not authorized to speak to the media. Reuters reported the latest count of the wounded at 309, and said hospitals were flooded with patients brought by ambulance and helicopter.
The Saudi civil aviation authority said the dead included four Saudis, two Bangladeshis, and one person each from the United States, Jordan, Palestine, Syria, Sudan and Egypt. Egyptian state television identified the Egyptian victim as Azza Ramzy, 28, a flight attendant with the Saudi airline Flynas.
An eyewitness told Reuters of seeing an explosion and then several people lying injured inside the airport, with more than a dozen ambulances rushing to the site. An injured traveler said part of the ceiling near a departure gate collapsed after something flew across the sky outside.
Footage posted on social media and analyzed by the AP shows emergency vehicles outside the airport. Heavy police stood guard Saturday with all entrances blocked and the complex’s lights dimmed. Flights were diverted elsewhere.
The Houthis have not claimed the attack, and there was no immediate statement from them on it. The head of the group’s media office posted on X that the Houthis had “shut down Riyadh international airport.”
What Authorities Are Saying
President Donald Trump said Saturday he was weighing whether the United States should join Saudi strikes on the Houthis. “We may. We’re going to look at it,” he said, adding that a decision would come quickly. He later said he planned to speak with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and called the events “not acceptable.”
Secretary of State Marco Rubio confirmed an American citizen was among the dead. “They must stop now,” he said of the attacks.
U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres said attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure violate international law. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen wrote on X that attacks by Iran’s proxies are “pushing the region into a spiral of violence.” Iraq, Lebanon and Syria also condemned the strike.
The U.S. Embassy in Riyadh urged American citizens to avoid the airport and surrounding areas. Britain, Germany, Australia and Canada issued similar warnings.
Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree, the Houthis’ military spokesman, said the kingdom’s airports are targets and urged everyone to “take our warnings seriously.” The group reported two airstrikes on Sanaa on Sunday and blamed Saudi Arabia. There was no immediate Saudi comment or word of casualties. The Houthi run Health Ministry said 91 Yemenis have been killed and 168 injured by the coalition in five weeks, and that 60% of those killed were women and children.
Differing Accounts
The sources gave different figures for earlier attacks on the same airport. The AP said Houthi attacks earlier in the week killed three Saudis, including a pilot. Reuters said the two previous attacks killed four people and heavily damaged a Saudi commercial plane on the tarmac.
They also described the scale differently. The AP called it the deadliest attack in any Gulf Arab country since the Iran war began. Reuters called it the deadliest in the kingdom in more than a decade.
On damage to aircraft in Thursday’s attack, two regional officials told the AP that three planes were hit, while the Saudi national carrier said one of its aircraft was damaged on the ground with no passengers aboard.
Why This Matters
The attack is a sharp escalation in a conflict that has spread from the Iran war. Until recently the Houthis stayed largely on the sidelines, and now they give Tehran a way to pressure a key U.S. ally. It is expected to deepen Saudi pressure on Washington and other partners for military help, after a kingdom that has seemingly tried to avoid all out war with the Houthis.
Saudi Arabia has been running low on missile interceptors, regional officials told the AP last month, and has asked France, Britain, Pakistan and Egypt for air defense support. The attacks have also shaken the aviation sector. Air India, FlyDubai, Lufthansa Group and Pakistan International Airlines suspended flights to and from Riyadh and other Saudi airports for varying periods, and the European Union Aviation Safety Agency warned of a greater risk of misidentification of civil aircraft.
The Saudi energy ministry still promoted a major international energy conference due to begin in Riyadh on Sunday, and organizers of several investment events said they would proceed.
If the U.S. joins strikes, the AP reported, the Houthis could respond by halting shipping through a crucial waterway and further restricting oil flowing out of the Persian Gulf.
What Happens Next
The airport’s reopening depends on the security situation, and the closure could be extended again. Riyadh has vowed a firm response, and Trump’s call with the crown prince will show whether Washington joins strikes. The Saudi Foreign Ministry said its foreign minister spoke with his Omani counterpart about “supporting diplomatic solutions,” and Oman has played a mediator role at times.
On the ground in Yemen, the Saudi backed government began an offensive this week to retake territory lost to the Houthis, who took the Red Sea chokepoint of Bab el Mandeb this summer and have put Taiz, the country’s third largest city, under siege, Reuters reported. Progress has been slow.
Reporting drawn from the Associated Press and Reuters
