Deadliest attack on Gulf state since Iran war began

Terminals 3 and 4 facilities hit

Houthis cite Saudi airstrikes on Yemen as justification

Airport suspends operations, dozens of flights canceled

Flames and smoke rise from King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on Thursday. Three people were killed in the attack that day, including the captain of a Saudi civilian airline. [Reuters]
Flames and smoke rise from King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on Thursday. Three people were killed in the attack that day, including the captain of a Saudi civilian airline. [Reuters]

King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, was struck again Saturday (local time), killing at least 12 people and wounding 309. The attack is believed to be the deadliest strike on a Gulf Arab state since the United States and Israel went to war with Iran in February. As Iran-backed Houthi rebels from Yemen expanded their campaign across Saudi Arabia — including a projectile landing near an international airport in the eastern city of Dammam — Donald Trump signaled the United States could intervene in the conflict.

Saudi Arabia's General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA) announced that the attack on King Khalid International Airport killed at least 12 people and wounded 309, according to Reuters. GACA said four of the dead were Saudi nationals, two were Bangladeshi, and one each were from the United States, Jordan, Palestine, Syria, Sudan and Egypt.

Saturday's strike was at least the third time King Khalid Airport has been hit since Iran-backed Houthi rebels announced a sweeping campaign targeting Saudi airports and oil facilities on Monday.

Sources said the attack came without warning and that Saudi Arabia's threat-alert system issued no alarm before the strike.

A witness at the airport said they saw multiple people lying wounded inside the terminal after the explosion. Another injured person said part of the ceiling near a boarding gate collapsed moments after they spotted an object flying through the sky outside the airport.

Ambulances wait outside King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on Saturday (local time) to transport the wounded after the airport was struck. [Reuters]
Ambulances wait outside King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on Saturday (local time) to transport the wounded after the airport was struck. [Reuters]

The Wall Street Journal reported that missiles struck facilities housing the airport's Terminals 3 and 4.

Senior Houthi official Mohammed al-Bukhaiti told The New York Times that the group was responsible for the attack. He said it was retaliation for Saudi airstrikes on civilian infrastructure in Yemen, adding that the strikes were meant "to make the world understand that airports, ports, wedding halls, funeral halls, hospitals and markets in Yemen are civilian facilities that should not be attacked or harmed."

GACA suspended airport operations to assess damage and inspect safety conditions. Flight-tracking site Flightradar24 showed all flights bound for Riyadh were diverted to other airports or canceled. Kuwait Airways, Etihad Airways and Qatar Airways were among the carriers that suspended Riyadh routes, with some flight suspensions expected to continue through Monday.

A projectile also struck near the airport in Dammam, a major city in eastern Saudi Arabia, on Saturday. Turki al-Maliki, spokesperson for the Saudi-led coalition, said on X in the early hours of Sunday that "a projectile fell near King Fahd International Airport in Dammam." He also said Saudi forces intercepted and destroyed a Houthi ballistic missile over the Al-Kharj region in central Saudi Arabia.

The Houthis have sustained their missile campaign against major Saudi facilities since claiming attacks on King Khalid Airport, the Aramco refinery in the coastal city of Rabigh and Abha International Airport in the southwest on Monday. Strikes on Riyadh and Abha airports on Tuesday and Wednesday killed three people and wounded 36, and two attacks on King Khalid Airport on Thursday killed three more, including the captain of a Saudi airline.

Saudi Arabia's air defenses have shown repeated vulnerabilities under the sustained assault, drawing attention to whether the United States will respond militarily. Trump, speaking to reporters at the White House on Saturday, was asked whether the US planned to join Saudi Arabia in striking the Houthis. "We might. We'll look at it," he said, adding: "I just found out about the recent attack, so I'll make a decision. We'll respond very quickly."

The United States conducted large-scale airstrikes against the Houthis last year, raising the prospect that the current escalation could draw Washington into direct military involvement.

The intensifying Houthi offensive has also raised concerns that major international events scheduled in Saudi Arabia could be disrupted.

The World Petroleum Congress energy summit, drawing participants from across the global energy industry, is set to open in Riyadh on Sunday. Later this month, the Future Investment Initiative — a major international investment forum led by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman — is also scheduled to take place. Organizers say both events will proceed as planned, but flight disruptions and the threat of further attacks are expected to complicate travel and security arrangements for attendees.

The Saudi-led coalition and Yemeni government forces declared the launch of "Operation Yemen Dawn" on Oct. 4, aimed at retaking Houthi-held territory in Yemen, and moved to seize key positions around the Bab el-Mandeb Strait connecting the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.

The Houthis are fighting Yemeni government forces on the ground while simultaneously striking Saudi territory with ballistic missiles and other weapons in retaliation for Saudi air support of the Yemeni military.


yckim6452@heraldcorp.com