King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh was struck by a projectile on Sunday, causing a fire in Passenger Hall No. 4 and injuring people, according to Saudi Arabia's civil aviation authority and military spokesman Maj Gen Turki al-Maliki. The attack marked the second strike on the airport in two days.
The Houthis claimed responsibility. Their military spokesman Brig Gen Yahya Saree said the group had targeted the airport with ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and drones in the past 24 hours. He said they also attacked oil facilities and Dammam airport in eastern Saudi Arabia. Saree vowed to continue "escalating operations deep inside Saudi Arabia" and warned that all Saudi airports except those in Mecca and Medina were potential targets.
Saturday's strike killed 13 people and injured 308 others, making it the deadliest single attack on a Gulf Arab country since the Israel-US-Iran conflict began in February, according to the source. Four Saudi nationals, two Bangladeshis and one person each from the US, Jordan, Palestine, Syria, Sudan and Egypt were among the dead. An Indian man also died from injuries sustained in the Saturday attack, according to the Indian embassy in Saudi Arabia.
The Houthis said they are targeting Saudi Arabia over its support for government forces in Yemen's civil war and over a Saudi air strike on Sanaa airport. Houthi-run Al Masirah TV reported the strike on Sanaa airport, though Saudi Arabia has not confirmed the attack and the BBC could not verify the claim.
The Saudi-led military coalition called Saturday's strike a "war crime" and vowed to respond. US President Donald Trump said the US would "move very quickly" on whether to strike the Houthis. UK Defence Secretary Wes Streeting suggested the UK could "potentially" provide more support for Saudi Arabia. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio condemned the attacks and confirmed a US citizen was killed.
This latest violence follows the collapse in July of a temporary ceasefire brokered in 2022. The Houthis currently control about one quarter of Yemeni territory and around 80 percent of the country's population. Saudi Arabia fears Houthi control would establish an Iranian satellite state on its southern border.