Yemen's Houthi rebels issued a fresh warning on Sunday to airlines, airport workers and travellers to avoid using airports in Saudi Arabia, saying the threat should be taken seriously, a day after a missile attack on King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh killed at least 12 people and wounded more than 300. In a statement, the Iran-aligned group said Saudi Arabia "bears responsibility for failed interceptions" and repeated its threats against targets on Saudi soil. Without formally claiming Saturday's strike, the Houthis warned that the kingdom's airports and airspace remain potential targets and urged passengers to avoid flying to Saudi Arabia, with the exception of the holy cities of Mecca and Medina. "Airports and airspace are a field of operations for our forces," Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree said. The head of the Houthi media office, however, posted on X after the attack that the group had "shut down Riyadh international airport", Reuters reported.
Deadliest attack in a decade
Saturday's attack was the deadliest in Saudi Arabia in more than a decade, according to Reuters, and marks a significant escalation of the war in Yemen. It was the third attack on the Riyadh airport in a single week, Al Jazeera reported, following strikes on Thursday that killed at least three Saudi citizens, including a pilot. The Saudi-led military coalition fighting in Yemen blamed the Iran-backed Houthis and described the strike as a war crime. According to the Saudi General Authority of Civil Aviation, the dead include four Saudi citizens, two Bangladeshi nationals and one person each from the United States, Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Palestine and Sudan, while 309 people were wounded, several of them seriously. The missile struck at around 3pm local time, a diplomatic source told AFP. The attacks are part of a campaign the Houthis have waged against Saudi airports, oil facilities and tankers since a truce in Yemen's long-running war collapsed in July, AFP reported.
Authorities suspended operations at the airport, which serves a city of some eight million people, and diverted all flights, while aviation sector sources said critical infrastructure, including radar and communications systems, had been damaged. Several Western embassies urged their citizens to stay away from the airport, and some temporarily barred their staff from using it. The US embassy in Riyadh strongly advised American citizens to avoid the airport and the surrounding area, and the embassies of Canada, Germany and Spain issued similar warnings. Spain's embassy alerted its nationals on X to a "new attack" at the airport, where eyewitnesses had earlier told AFP that an evacuation had been ordered.
Trump weighs US involvement
US President Donald Trump called the strike "unacceptable" and said Washington was considering taking part in operations against the Houthis. "I just heard about the attack, I will announce soon what I have decided," he said, leaving open the possibility of US military involvement alongside Saudi Arabia. The Saudi-led coalition has said it will respond, and Houthi media reported that Saudi strikes hit areas of Sanaa province, which is under rebel control.
International condemnation
The attack drew widespread condemnation. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen described it as a dangerous escalation, while Jordan and Pakistan also condemned it. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on X that he was deeply shocked and strongly condemned the attack, Arab News reported, and Bangladesh, which lost two nationals, condemned it in the strongest terms. British Defence Secretary Wes Streeting told Sky News the strike was a dangerous escalation and an utterly reprehensible act, adding that the Houthis were following an increasingly worrying pattern of attacks on civilian facilities in Saudi Arabia.
Airlines cancel flights
Kuwait Airways cancelled flights to and from Riyadh, citing the security situation, while Etihad Airways and Qatar Airways cancelled several flights between their hubs and the Saudi capital, with some cancellations extending to Monday.
Sources: ERT, Reuters, AFP, Al Jazeera, Arab News
