Several people were wounded in an attack on King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh on Saturday, and operations were suspended. The strike follows two earlier attacks on the airport this week, as Yemen's Houthis escalate missile strikes against Saudi Arabia.
Several people were wounded in an attack on King Khalid International Airport in Saudi Arabia's capital on Saturday, forcing a suspension of operations, the country's civil aviation authority said. No one had claimed responsibility by the time Reuters reported, but the attack comes amid an escalation of missile strikes by Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis against Saudi Arabia.
Crypto Briefing reported that the incident reportedly caused at least 12 fatalities, although it said official death tolls remain unconfirmed. Reuters, for its part, reported several people wounded on Saturday.
The airport had already been struck in two earlier attacks this week that left four people dead and exposed vulnerabilities in the kingdom's ability to defend itself. Saudi Arabia's early warning system did not issue an alert ahead of Saturday's incident.
One eyewitness reported seeing an explosion and then multiple people lying injured inside the airport. An injured traveller told Reuters they saw something fly across the sky outside before part of the ceiling near a departure gate collapsed.
Asked whether the United States would join Saudi strikes on the Houthis, President Donald Trump said, according to Reuters: "We may. We’re going to look at it." The US embassy in Riyadh strongly recommended that all US citizens avoid the airport and surrounding areas.
Flight-tracking site flightradar24 showed all flights to Riyadh had been diverted or cancelled. Kuwait Airways cancelled its flights to and from the Saudi capital. Etihad Airways and Qatar Airways cancelled multiple flights, some extending into Monday.
The disruption comes shortly before Riyadh is due to host major energy and investment conferences. Organisers said on Saturday the events would go ahead as planned. The Houthis have declared Saudi airspace a zone of military operations and said airliners should avoid it.
Sources: Investing.com (Reuters), Crypto Briefing
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