Daijiworld Media Network - Riyadh
Riyadh, Oct 11: At least 12 people were killed and 309 injured in a third attack on Riyadh’s international airport within a week on Saturday, according to Saudi authorities. Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels claimed responsibility for the strike, marking a further escalation in their campaign against Saudi Arabia.
The Saudi civil aviation authority said the deceased included four Saudi nationals, two Bangladeshis and one citizen each from the United States, Jordan, Palestine, Syria, Sudan and Egypt. Several injured people were reported to be in critical condition, with hospitals receiving casualties transported by ambulances and helicopters.
The attack occurred without warning, and Saudi Arabia’s threat alert system did not issue an alert. Two earlier attacks on King Khalid International Airport during the week had killed four people and severely damaged a Saudi commercial aircraft parked on the tarmac.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio condemned the attacks, confirming that an American citizen was among those killed. He described the strikes as a disregard for innocent civilian lives and called for them to stop immediately.
Following Saturday’s attack, all flights to Riyadh were diverted and airport operations were temporarily suspended, the Saudi civil aviation authority said. The airport serves the Saudi capital, which has a population of around eight million.
The head of the Houthi media office claimed on X that the group had shut down Riyadh International Airport. The rebels have also urged airlines to avoid Saudi airspace, declaring it a military operations zone after the Saudi-backed Yemeni government launched an offensive against them earlier this week.
Flight-tracking website Flightradar24 showed that flights to Riyadh had been cancelled or diverted. Eyewitnesses reported an explosion inside the airport, with several injured people lying on the ground. More than a dozen ambulances were seen heading towards the facility.
An injured traveller told Reuters that they had seen an object flying across the sky before part of the ceiling near a departure gate collapsed. A video verified by Reuters also showed ambulances at the airport.
The US Embassy in Riyadh said it was aware of the attacks and strongly advised American citizens to avoid the airport and surrounding areas.
US President Donald Trump said Washington was considering whether to join Saudi Arabia’s military campaign against the Houthis but had not yet taken a decision. Speaking to reporters outside the White House, Trump said the administration would assess the latest attack before deciding on possible involvement.
The strikes have raised concerns about vulnerabilities in Saudi Arabia’s air defences as the kingdom supports a ground offensive by Yemen’s internationally recognised government against the Houthis. Saudi Arabia and the Yemeni government have reported hundreds of strikes against targets in Houthi-controlled areas. The rebels, meanwhile, have claimed that civilians, including women and children, were among those killed. Reuters said it could not independently verify the claims.
Saudi Arabia intervened in Yemen’s civil war in 2015, leading an Arab coalition in an attempt to drive the Houthis out of the capital, Sanaa, which the rebels had seized the previous year. The conflict resulted in widespread destruction, famine and hundreds of thousands of deaths.
A 2022 agreement between Saudi Arabia and the Houthis brought a halt to much of the fighting. However, the truce began to unravel over the summer, followed by a Houthi advance that wrested control of the strategic Bab el-Mandeb chokepoint on the Red Sea from Saudi-backed government forces.
The Yemeni government launched a fresh offensive this week to retake the territory, making limited progress so far. The Houthis have also placed Taiz, Yemen’s third-largest city, under siege.
The attacks have disrupted air travel to Riyadh just days before the Saudi capital is scheduled to host major energy and investment conferences. Several airlines had already suspended or cancelled services following attacks earlier in the week. Organisers said on Saturday that the upcoming conferences would proceed as planned despite the security concerns.