Riyadh Airport Attack Kills 12, Injures Over 300; Trump Assessing Whether U.S. Military to Join Strikes Against Houthis

According to the Saudi General Authority of Civil Aviation, three attacks have hit airports inside Saudi Arabia since Wednesday of this week, killing at least 12 people and injuring more than 309. The deadliest occurred on Saturday at King Khalid International Airport in the capital, Riyadh, and was the attack with the highest death toll on Saudi soil in more than a decade. Victims included Saudis, Palestinians, Bangladeshis, and citizens from the United States, Jordan, Syria, Sudan and Egypt.

According to ABC News, Yemen's Houthi forces claimed responsibility for the attacks on Saudi airports beginning Wednesday, saying it was retaliation for airstrikes by the Saudi-backed coalition on Sanaa airport in Yemen. The group on Sunday issued a fresh warning to airlines, airport workers and travelers not to use Saudi airports, claiming Saudi Arabia should "bear responsibility for the interception failure." Houthi military spokesman Yahya Sarei said on X that airports in Mecca and Medina were not within the scope of the warning, but did not explicitly confirm further attacks.

The Saudi-led coalition blamed Saturday's attack on the Houthis, characterizing it as a "flagrant war crime" and vowing a "firm response."

No warning was issued by Saudi authorities before the attack. An injured traveler told Reuters that he saw an object pass overhead at the airport, after which part of the ceiling near a boarding gate collapsed. The wounded were transported to hospitals by ambulances and helicopters, with some in critical condition.

Operations at Riyadh airport have now been fully suspended, with police presence reinforced throughout, all entrances sealed and lighting dimmed. According to flight-tracking website Flightradar24, the airspace over Riyadh has been cleared, with hundreds of flights cancelled or diverted elsewhere. Lufthansa of Germany, FlyDubai (a subsidiary of Emirates), Air India and Pakistan International Airlines, among other foreign carriers, have suspended services to and from the Saudi capital.

The United States, United Kingdom, Germany, Australia and Canada have all warned their citizens to avoid the airport and surrounding areas. The U.S. Embassy in Riyadh said it was "aware of the attacks" and "strongly advises all U.S. citizens to avoid the airport and surrounding areas." The European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) expanded its guidance on Saudi airspace, acknowledging that the Houthis have "the capability to strike deeper targets inside Saudi Arabia, including Riyadh," and noting that their "focus on aviation infrastructure is intensifying."

Shortly after the attack, U.S. President Trump told reporters that he is assessing whether the United States should join Saudi strikes against the Houthis. "We may get involved, we're looking at it. We just learned about this attack. So we'll make a decision. We move very fast." Trump later said he plans to speak with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, but has not yet made a final decision on whether to intervene.

Reducing this round of attacks to a simple characterization of "the Houthis attacking Saudi Arabia" sidesteps the deeper roots: the Saudi-led coalition's ongoing military campaign in Yemen since 2015 has caused massive civilian casualties and a humanitarian catastrophe, and the Houthis' capability to strike deep targets inside Saudi Arabia has developed within the cycle of that conflict. With victims from at least eight countries, the regional military escalation is dragging more ordinary civilians into the war. Further U.S. involvement would mean a further deepening of the internationalization of the Yemen conflict.