At least 12 killed and 309 wounded in attack on Riyadh airport
An attack on Riyadh’s international airport killed at least 12 people and wounded 309 on Saturday, as Washington considered joining Saudi strikes on the Houthis.
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. At least 12 people were killed and 309 wounded in an attack on King Khalid International Airport on Saturday, the deadliest attack in the kingdom in more than a decade. It was the third attack on the airport this week, amid an escalating campaign launched this summer by the Iran-backed Houthis.
Casualties and airport damage
The Saudi civil aviation authority said those killed included four Saudis, two people from Bangladesh and one person each from the United States, Jordan, Palestine, Syria, Sudan and Egypt. Officials put the latest number of wounded at 309.
Hospitals were flooded with casualties brought by ambulance and helicopter, some in critical condition. The attack occurred without warning.
The two previous attacks on the airport this week killed four people and caused heavy damage to a Saudi commercial aircraft parked on the tarmac.
The strikes have exposed vulnerabilities in Saudi defence capabilities as the kingdom conducts an air campaign against the Houthis in support of a ground war by the Yemeni government against the group.
The Houthis have not claimed responsibility for Saturday’s attack. A Saudi-led military coalition vowed to respond.
US considers joining Saudi strikes
President Donald Trump said Washington was considering joining Saudi strikes on the Houthis in a conflict that has spilled over from the war on Iran launched by the United States and Israel in February.
Asked whether the United States planned to join the strikes, Trump told reporters: “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 condemned the airport attacks, saying they “demonstrate a blatant disregard for innocent civilian life”.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres also condemned Saturday’s strike, reiterating that attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure violate international law and must cease immediately.
Conflict in Yemen
Saudi Arabia and the Yemeni government have claimed hundreds of strikes on targets in Houthi-held territory. The Houthis have said those strikes killed civilians, including women and children. Reuters could not independently verify those claims.
Saudi Arabia entered the Yemen war in 2015 at the head of an Arab coalition seeking to force the Houthis out of the Yemeni capital, Sanaa. The war became a bloody stalemate, with hundreds of thousands of Yemenis killed by fighting and famine.
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