Houthi attack on Riyadh airport kills 12 and injures 309 as Trump says US will ‘take a look’ at joining Saudi strikes

At least 12 people were killed and 309 injured in an attack on a passenger terminal at King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh, with an American citizen among the dead, according to Saudi authorities.

President Donald Trump said the United States would “take a look” at joining Saudi Arabia in striking the Houthis, stopping short of a firm commitment as Washington debates striking the group and restarting strikes on Iran. Secretary of State Marco Rubio condemned the attacks and confirmed that an American was killed in the strikes.

Strike on the terminal

The Saudi-led coalition blamed the attack on the Houthis, with coalition spokesman Maj Gen Turki al-Maliki calling it a “full-fledged war crime.” An eyewitness who had been in the domestic terminal told a news agency that they saw gate 401 hit and “injured [people] in front of my eyes,” adding: “Everyone was running.” More than a dozen ambulances rushed to the airport, according to Reuters citing an eyewitness. Some of the injured were in critical condition, according to the Saudi civil aviation authority. The deaths included four Saudis, two Bangladeshis, and one person each from the US, Jordan, Palestine, Syria, Sudan, and Egypt. Operations at the airport have been suspended.

Travel chaos and embassy warnings

All flights to Riyadh have been diverted or cancelled, according to aviation tracker Flightradar. Several Gulf airlines cancelled flights to and from the airport, with Kuwait Airways citing the “security situation.” Western embassies in Saudi Arabia warned their citizens away from the airport, and the UK Foreign Office told British nationals to avoid the area “until the airport is secure.”

Months of escalation

A Saudi-led coalition was formed in 2015 after Arab countries joined forces to stop the Houthis taking over Yemen. A temporary ceasefire was brokered in 2022 after years of fighting led to hundreds of thousands of deaths and a humanitarian crisis. The informal truce began to unravel in July, when the Houthis announced a maritime embargo against Saudi Arabia and began missile and drone attacks on Saudi airports, oil facilities, and tankers in the Red Sea. The Houthis said they were retaliating against a years-long Saudi blockade and an air strike on the airport in Sanaa. They say they are targeting Saudi Arabia over its support for government forces in Yemen’s civil war. Three people were killed in Houthi attacks on two Saudi airports on 6 and 7 October, and three Saudis including a pilot were killed in two attacks the day prior. A projectile fell near King Fahd International Airport in Dammam on Saturday, and Saudi-led coalition forces destroyed a drone launched towards the eastern region following the attack.