Riyadh airport remains shut after deadly attack as Trump says US may join Saudi strikes on Houthis

Riyadh's international airport remained closed on Sunday after an attack that killed 12 people and injured 309, according to the supplied material. The closure was extended until midnight local time at the start of Monday, 12 October, while aviation authorities had not confirmed when flights would resume. A senior aviation source said operators were told at dawn that flights would stay suspended, and another source said radar and communications equipment had been damaged.

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The Saudi-led coalition blamed the Iran-backed Houthis for the strike on King Khalid International Airport and vowed a decisive response. US President Donald Trump said Washington might join Saudi strikes against the group, but he did not announce a decision. He later described the airport attack as terrible and said Saudi Arabia could defend itself against the Houthis.

The human toll included four Saudis and eight foreign nationals, among them an American citizen. The Houthis renewed their warning on Sunday to airlines, airport workers and travellers against using Saudi airports, saying the facilities remained vulnerable to attack. In a separate incident, the coalition said a projectile fell near King Fahd International Airport in Dammam on Saturday, adding to the sense of wider disruption.

The attack matters because it has hit civilian aviation in the Saudi capital and raised the risk of further disruption to transport and critical infrastructure. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen called it a dangerous escalation and warned of threats to international transport and energy infrastructure. UN Secretary-General António Guterres also condemned the attack, saying assaults on civilians and civilian infrastructure violate international law and must stop immediately.

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The incident also comes against the backdrop of the Yemen conflict, in which the Houthis have repeatedly launched cross-border attacks into Saudi territory. UN envoy for Yemen Hans Grundberg said on Sunday that the strikes threatened regional security and complicated efforts to secure peace in Yemen. Qatar also condemned the attack as a violation of Saudi sovereignty and a threat to civilians and aviation safety.

What remains unclear is when Riyadh airport will reopen and how extensive the damage is inside the facility. The supplied material does not give a full public breakdown of the runway assessments or the condition of those injured. The next developments to watch are any Saudi military response, any decision by Washington on direct involvement, and whether aviation services can resume safely.

Saudi Arabia has extended the closure of Riyadh's international airport after an attack there killed 12 people and wounded more than 300, according to the supplied material. The Houthis also warned airlines, travellers and airport workers to stay away from Saudi airports, saying they were vulnerable to attack. The warning came a day after the strike and amid a wider escalation in fighting linked to Yemen.

The material says the kingdom kept the airport closure in place until at least 9pm on Sunday local time, while schools in the capital were moved online until the end of the week. It also says the Saudi embassy in Kuwait was arranging buses to bring citizens home after flights were cancelled. The Houthis said further Saudi military action in Yemen would trigger a stronger response, and urged people to take their warning seriously.

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The attack was described in the supplied material as the deadliest of its kind in the kingdom in more than a decade. It comes as Saudi Arabia has stepped up military involvement in Yemen in recent weeks, launching strikes against the Houthis and backing a Yemeni government counteroffensive after the group seized strategic territory along the Red Sea coast last month. The latest disruption therefore affects not only aviation but also the wider security picture in the region.

The warning is significant because airports are among the most sensitive civilian targets in any cross-border conflict. A prolonged closure at Riyadh's main airport can affect travel, business and public confidence, while the threat to airspace raises the risk of further disruption across the kingdom. The material also notes that world leaders have called for de-escalation and the protection of civilian lives.

What remains unclear is how long the closure will last and whether further attacks are planned. The supplied material does not give a full breakdown of the damage inside the airport or the condition of those injured. The next developments to watch are any Saudi response, any further Houthi statements and whether flights can resume safely.

Saudi Arabia remains on alert after a Houthi strike on King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh killed 12 people and injured more than 300, according to the supplied material. The attack hit a complex housing Terminals 3 and 4, which handle domestic flights, and footage showed a missile striking a Saudia Airlines jet parked at the terminal. Flight tracking data indicated that all operations at the kingdom's largest airport were still suspended on Sunday.

The material says the US president was deciding whether to join Saudi airstrikes against the Houthi rebels, while the UK said it was assisting the kingdom with air-to-air refuelling. A defence secretary described the airport strike as a dangerous escalation. The Houthis warned airlines, workers and travellers against using Saudi airports and airspace, saying they were vulnerable to attack, while excluding the airports in Mecca and Medina from that warning.

The disruption comes at a sensitive time for Saudi aviation and public confidence, because King Khalid International Airport handles about 40 million passengers a year. The attack also coincided with the start of the WPC Energy Congress, which the material says was taking place about six miles from the airport and was still due to go ahead. Schools across the kingdom were also reported to have suspended in-person classes, with students learning remotely until at least Thursday.

The incident adds to a wider pattern of cross-border attacks linked to the Yemen conflict, which has repeatedly spilled into Saudi territory through drones and missiles. The supplied material says a further projectile fell near King Fahd International Airport in Dammam, and another drone was intercepted in the region on Sunday. That suggests the airport strike was part of a broader period of heightened tension rather than an isolated event.

Saudi authorities have not yet given a full public breakdown of the damage inside the airport, and the condition of those injured remains unclear from the supplied material. It is also not clear how long the suspension of operations will last or whether further attacks are planned. The next developments to watch are any Saudi response, any decision by the US on direct involvement, and whether aviation services can resume safely.

Saudi Arabia has vowed a decisive response after a Houthi strike on Riyadh's international airport killed at least a dozen people and wounded more than 300, according to the supplied material. The attack hit King Khalid International Airport in the capital and was described by the Saudi-led coalition as a war crime. It marks the kingdom's deadliest strike in a decade, deepening concern over the reach of the Yemen conflict.

The Saudi-led military coalition accused pro-Iranian Houthi fighters in Yemen of carrying out the attack and said it would respond decisively. Coalition spokesman Turki al-Maliki said the strike targeted a passenger terminal at the airport. The material also says Saudi Arabia's education ministry ordered schools in Riyadh to switch to remote learning for a week, reflecting the immediate disruption in the capital.

The attack has drawn swift international reaction. Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif condemned what he called a heinous attack on civilian and vital infrastructure and reaffirmed support for Saudi Arabia's sovereignty and territorial integrity. US President Donald Trump said the strike was not acceptable and said he would speak with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio also condemned the attacks and said an American citizen was killed. The incident matters because it shows how the conflict in Yemen continues to spill across the border into Saudi Arabia's civilian infrastructure. Airports are among the most sensitive targets in such a conflict because they affect travel, trade and public confidence at the same time.

The reported death toll and the number of wounded also underline the scale of the human cost, while the closure of schools in Riyadh suggests authorities are treating the security situation as serious and ongoing. The supplied material places the attack in a wider pattern of Houthi strikes on Saudi targets, including airports and other infrastructure. Saudi Arabia has been involved in the Yemen war since 2015 as leader of a military coalition backing the internationally recognised government.

The latest strike adds pressure on the kingdom to show it can protect critical sites while avoiding a broader escalation. What remains unclear is the full extent of the damage inside the airport and whether further attacks are planned. The material does not give a complete breakdown of the wounded or the condition of those injured.

The next developments to watch are Saudi Arabia's response, any further coalition statements and whether the airport and other public services face additional disruption.

Saudi Arabia has suspended flights in and out of King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh after a series of Houthi attacks on airport infrastructure this week. The latest disruption follows strikes that officials say killed 12 people and injured more than 300 across the airport attacks. The airport in the capital and other facilities were hit by drones and missiles, according to the supplied material.

The attacks began on Wednesday local time and were claimed by the Iran-backed Houthis, who said they were acting in retaliation for Saudi-backed airstrikes on Sanaa Airport in Yemen. Saudi Arabia's civil aviation authority said the third attack on Saturday killed four Saudis, a Palestinian, two people from Bangladesh and one person each from the United States, Jordan, Syria, Sudan and Egypt. The authority also said three Saudi nationals were killed in an earlier strike, including a pilot, and that several people were injured.

The disruption has affected hundreds of flights and prompted travel warnings, underlining the scale of the impact on one of the kingdom's main transport hubs. The supplied material says hospitals were flooded with wounded brought by ambulance and helicopter, and some of the injured were in a critical condition. It also says the attacks caused material damage, while one aircraft was struck while parked on the tarmac.

The incident matters because it shows how the conflict in Yemen is spilling over into civilian infrastructure in Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia has led a military coalition against the Houthis since 2015, and the group has repeatedly targeted Saudi airports, oil facilities and other infrastructure. The latest strikes add pressure on aviation security and raise the risk of further retaliation in a conflict that has already drawn in regional and international actors.

The supplied material also places the attacks in the context of a broader escalation after a truce in Yemen unravelled in July. It says the deadliest strike in the kingdom in more than a decade occurred without warning and without an alert from Saudi Arabia's threat warning system. Foreign nationals were among the dead, including people from Bangladesh, the United States, Jordan, Palestine, Syria, Sudan and Egypt, showing the wider human cost of the attacks.

What remains unclear is how long operations at King Khalid International Airport will stay suspended and whether further attacks will follow. The supplied material does not provide a full breakdown of the damage inside the airport, and the exact operational impact is still developing. The key issue now is whether Saudi authorities can restore normal air traffic while preventing more strikes on civilian sites.

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