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Iran-backed Houthi terrorists killed at least 12 people, including an American citizen, and wounded more than 300 others in a missile attack Saturday on Saudi Arabia’s busiest airport. The assault has prompted President Trump to consider joining Saudi-led military operations against the terrorist group.
The missile struck the complex housing Terminals 3 and 4 at King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh, sending panicked travelers running for cover, overwhelming nearby hospitals, and forcing authorities to suspend operations at the kingdom’s principal aviation hub.
Saudi Arabia’s General Authority of Civil Aviation confirmed 12 deaths and 309 injuries, including several people in critical condition. The dead included four Saudis, two Bangladeshis, and one American, Egyptian, Jordanian, Syrian, Sudanese, and Palestinian.
According to the Wall Street Journal, the assault was Saudi Arabia’s deadliest attack in more than a decade. It came amid an intensifying Houthi missile campaign targeting the kingdom’s airports and other civilian infrastructure.
The attack also increased the likelihood of direct American military intervention in the renewed conflict.
Asked by reporters outside the White House whether he had decided to join Saudi-led strikes against the Houthis, Trump replied:
“We may. We’re going to look at it. We just found out about the recent attack, so we’ll make a decision. We move very quickly.”
Trump did not announce a decision. His remarks also came before Saudi authorities publicly confirmed that an American citizen was among those killed.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio subsequently condemned the attack, acknowledged the American fatality, and expressed Washington’s support for Saudi Arabia.
“The United States strongly condemns the recent attacks on the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia by the terrorist Houthis, including today’s strike on King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh that took numerous innocent lives, including an American citizen,” Rubio wrote Saturday. “These reprehensible attacks demonstrate a blatant disregard for innocent civilian life. They must stop now. We stand with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and its people and extend our condolences to the victims and their families.”
Saturday’s assault was the third attack on Riyadh’s main international airport that week. The Houthis had intensified their missile campaign against Saudi Arabia following the launch of a major Saudi-backed counteroffensive in Yemen.
The missile struck the airport complex housing Terminals 3 and 4. The Wall Street Journal reported direct hits on both terminals. Eyewitnesses described scenes of chaos as explosions ripped through the facility.
“I was on gate 403. I saw [gate] 401 hit, I saw injured [people] in front of my eyes. Everyone was running,” one witness told Agence France-Presse.
Ambulances and helicopters transported the wounded to nearby hospitals, where medical personnel struggled to cope with the influx of casualties. Several victims remained in critical condition.
According to Reuters, the attack occurred without an advance public warning from Saudi Arabia’s threat-warning system. The news agency cited people briefed on the incident, including Western officials.
The Houthis subsequently claimed responsibility. The head of the Iran-backed terrorist group’s media office boasted that the attack had “shut down Riyadh international airport.”
The group had previously declared Saudi airspace a military operations zone and threatened commercial aircraft operating without its approval. After Saturday’s assault, the Houthis’ military spokesman reposted a warning that only preapproved humanitarian flights would be permitted to land in Riyadh, adding: “a reminder.”
Saudi authorities diverted or canceled flights and temporarily suspended airport operations. The U.S. Embassy in Riyadh urged Americans to stay away from the area, stating that it “strongly recommends all US citizens avoid this airport and surrounding areas.”
The Saudi-led coalition condemned the attack as a “full-blown war crime” and promised a forceful military response.
Maj. Gen. Turki al-Maliki, the coalition’s spokesman, called the assault a “terrorist act that will be met with a firm response.”
“The Joint Forces Command of the Coalition will respond to this terrorist attack firmly and in accordance with international humanitarian law and its customary rules,” he said.
Yemen Counteroffensive Fuels Regional Escalation
Saturday’s attack occurred less than a week after Yemen’s internationally recognized government announced Operation Yemen Dawn, a major counteroffensive aimed at reclaiming strategic territory seized during a rapid Houthi advance along the country’s Red Sea coastline.
The campaign was announced Sunday, and the Saudi-led coalition launched its own military operation in Yemen’s Hodeidah province the following day. The offensive followed weeks of Houthi territorial gains around the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, a strategically vital maritime passage connecting the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden.
The Houthis had threatened to disrupt Saudi-linked shipping through Bab el-Mandeb. Such a move would threaten a critical alternative export route as the broader war with Iran disrupted maritime traffic through the Strait of Hormuz.
Saudi-backed forces have claimed gains around Bab el-Mandeb and nearby Perim Island, although control of the strategically important territory remains disputed.
The counteroffensive has included Saudi-led airstrikes targeting Houthi missile facilities and military positions. In response, the terrorist group has stepped up attacks against Saudi airports and other infrastructure.
Earlier in the week, Houthi missile attacks on airports in Riyadh and Abha killed three civilians and wounded dozens more. Saudi forces continued striking missile-storage facilities, command centers, and launch sites inside Yemen.
Additional strikes against Riyadh’s airport later Thursday killed three Saudi citizens, including an airline pilot, and damaged a Saudi commercial aircraft, according to Saudi authorities.
Before Saturday’s assault, al-Maliki had warned that the Houthi attacks “will not go unpunished.”
Saturday’s death toll exceeded that of the earlier airport attacks combined, making it the deadliest escalation yet in the Houthis’ renewed campaign against Saudi Arabia.
Trump Weighs Direct U.S. Military Action
Washington has already provided Saudi Arabia with intelligence, targeting assistance, and operational planning support in its campaign against the Houthis. The United States has also facilitated intelligence coordination between Israel and regional partners through U.S. Central Command.
Direct American strikes against the Houthis would mark a significant expansion of Washington’s military role in the conflict.
Saudi Arabia has vowed retaliation, Rubio has condemned the killing of an American citizen, and Trump has publicly acknowledged that he is considering joining the kingdom’s military campaign.
The decision now facing the White House is whether to move beyond supporting Saudi Arabia and commit American forces directly to the fight. Saturday’s deadly assault has raised the stakes, placing the prospect of U.S. military intervention in Yemen more firmly on the table.
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