(The Turkish Post) – A missile strike on Riyadh airport killed 12 people and wounded 309 on Saturday, Oct. 10, Saudi Arabia’s civil aviation authority said, and King Khalid International Airport remained closed on Sunday as the Saudi-led coalition blamed Yemen’s Houthis and promised a decisive response.
It was the deadliest in a series of attacks on Saudi airports this month. U.S. President Donald Trump said Washington might join Saudi strikes on the group, a step that would draw the United States directly into the war in Yemen.
Riyadh airport attack kills 12 from 8 countries
According to the General Authority of Civil Aviation, the missile hit King Khalid International Airport, the main air gateway to the Saudi capital. Some of the wounded are in critical condition.
The dead were four Saudi citizens, two Bangladeshis and one person each from the United States, Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Palestine and Sudan, according to figures released by Saudi authorities.
Operations at Riyadh airport were suspended after the strike, and flights were cancelled or diverted to other airports. Several international airlines suspended services to Saudi destinations. Saudi authorities had not said by Sunday afternoon when the airport would reopen.
The education ministry moved schools in Riyadh to remote learning for the week. The coalition also said a projectile fell near King Fahd International Airport in Dammam, in the Eastern Province, on Saturday.
Saudi-led coalition calls the strike a war crime
Coalition spokesman Maj. Gen. Turki al-Malki called the strike a “cowardly terrorist attack” by the Houthis and said it “constitutes a full-fledged war crime.” The coalition said on Sunday that its response would be decisive and that it had intercepted further missiles fired toward Saudi territory.
The Houthis had not formally claimed Saturday’s strike by Sunday. The group did, however, renew a warning to airlines, airport staff and travelers against using Saudi airports and airspace, which it described as a theater of operations for its forces.
Earlier in the week, Houthi strikes on the airports of Riyadh and Abha killed three Saudi citizens, including a pilot of the national carrier, Saudi authorities said. The Houthis claimed those attacks.
Trump says the US may join strikes on the Houthis
Asked on Saturday whether the United States would take part in Saudi strikes on the Houthis, Trump said: “We may. We’re going to look at it.” He called the attack on Riyadh airport “terrible” and “not acceptable” and said he would speak with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
Trump did not announce a decision on U.S. involvement by Sunday.
International condemnation of the Riyadh airport strike
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned the attack and said that attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure violate international law.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen called the strike a “dangerous escalation” and said the European Union stood in solidarity with Saudi Arabia. Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif condemned what he called a “heinous attack” and restated his country’s commitment to Saudi security.
Mecca defense pact with Türkiye and Pakistan
Saudi Arabia, Türkiye and Pakistan signed a mutual defense agreement in Mecca on Aug. 7. Under the pact, an armed attack on one of the three countries is treated as an attack on all of them.
On Oct. 5, after an emergency meeting in Riyadh, the three countries agreed for the first time to activate collective deterrence measures in response to Houthi attacks. A joint statement released by Pakistan’s foreign ministry said they would “provide the agreed military forces and capabilities and ensure their rapid deployment” to the kingdom. No deployment figures have been published.
A war that crossed the border
Fighting inside Yemen has escalated since early October, when Saudi-backed government forces launched an offensive against the Houthis. The UN envoy for Yemen, Hans Grundberg, told the Security Council on Oct. 9 that the country had slid back into full-scale war.
The Houthis, who are backed by Iran, seized the capital Sanaa in 2014 and still control much of northern Yemen. The Saudi-led coalition entered the war in March 2015 to support the internationally recognized government. Houthi missile and drone attacks on Saudi cities and airports were frequent until a truce in 2022 largely halted cross-border strikes.
Riyadh’s King Khalid International Airport is one of Saudi Arabia’s main international airports and a hub of the national carrier Saudia. The coalition has not said when it will launch the response it announced on Sunday.
