Riyadh airport attack kills 12 as Trump weighs US response
RIYADH — A deadly attack on Saudi Arabia’s King Khalid International Airport has drawn international condemnation and raised the prospect of American military involvement, after Saudi authorities reported 12 deaths and 309 injuries.
The Saudi-led coalition blamed Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis for Saturday’s attack and promised a firm response. Several injured people were in critical condition, according to the kingdom’s civil aviation authority.
Those killed included four Saudi citizens, two Bangladeshis and one citizen each from the United States, Jordan, Palestine, Syria, Sudan and Egypt. The attack was the third on the Riyadh airport within a week, Reuters reported. The Houthis had not immediately issued a formal claim of responsibility for the latest strike.
Airport operations were suspended and flights diverted. Countries including Britain, the United States, Australia and Canada advised their citizens to avoid the airport. The Saudi-led coalition described the assault on the civilian facility as a war crime.
US President Donald Trump said Washington was considering joining Saudi strikes against the Houthis, but had not announced a decision.
“We may. We’re going to look at it,” Trump told reporters.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio confirmed that an American citizen was among those killed and condemned the attacks.
United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres also condemned the lethal strike. His special envoy for Yemen, Hans Grundberg, denounced continuing Houthi attacks on civilian infrastructure in Saudi Arabia, specifically citing Saturday’s airport attack and the casualties reported by Saudi authorities.
Egypt, Palestine and Japan also condemned the attacks, Al Jazeera reported. Al Jazeera Qatar’s foreign ministry described the targeting of King Khalid airport as a violation of Saudi sovereignty and a threat to civilian safety and air navigation.
The airport attacks come amid renewed fighting between the Houthis and Yemen’s internationally recognised government, whose ground offensive is supported by Saudi air strikes.
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