Dead and 309 injured in attack on Riyadh airport – Trump announces “quick” decision

According to authorities, at least twelve people were killed in the attack on the international airport in the Saudi Arabian capital Riyadh, including four locals and eight foreigners. The civil aviation authority said on Sunday that 309 other people were injured in the attack on Saturday, some of them seriously.

According to the information, the foreign fatalities were one person from the USA, two people from Bangladesh, one Palestinian and one person each from Egypt, Jordan, Syria and Sudan. The statement also spoke of “material damage” caused by the attack.

The Saudi-led military alliance blamed the Houthis for the recent attack on King Khalid International Airport. The attack on one of the passenger terminals was a “downright war crime,” wrote the alliance spokesman, Turki al-Maliki, on the X platform and announced a decisive response.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres said he was “deeply shocked” by the Houthi attack. Attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure violated international law. They must be hired immediately, he demanded.

The Saudi Arabian aviation authority confirmed an attack on the airport, but did not officially blame the Houthis for the attack. Flight operations have been suspended for the time being.

Riyadh airport was hit on Thursday. According to Saudi Arabian information, three people were killed and one aircraft was damaged. Germany and other Western countries now advise against using the airport.

Saudi Arabia leads a military coalition supporting the internationally recognized government of Yemen in the fight against the Houthis. The Iran-backed Houthi militia has controlled large parts of Yemen, including the capital Sanaa, for years. Most recently, after a lightning offensive, it took control of large parts of the coast on the strategically and economically important Bab al-Mandab Strait.

US President Donald Trump also condemned the attack. “What happened in Saudi Arabia is unacceptable,” Trump told journalists on Saturday (local time) at Joint Base Andrews government airport. He will “talk” about it with Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio also commented. The United States condemned the Houthi militia's recent attacks on Saudi Arabia "in the strongest possible terms," ​​he wrote on Platform X. "These reprehensible attacks demonstrate a blatant disregard for the lives of innocent civilians. They must stop immediately." The United States stands with Saudi Arabia, Rubio added.

The United Nations also expressed concern. “These attacks represent a serious escalation,” said the UN special envoy for Yemen, Hans Grundberg, on Saturday (local time) in New York. “Such actions pose a serious threat to regional security, perpetuate cycles of violence and further complicate peace efforts for Yemen.”

US President Trump is now apparently considering supporting Saudi Arabia in the fight against the Houthis. After the attack on Riyadh airport, his government would now make a decision “very quickly,” he told reporters at the White House on Saturday. According to US media, the USA had so far rejected Saudi Arabia's requests for military support.

The US mission in Saudi Arabia urged all US citizens in the allied kingdom to avoid King Khalid International Airport and surrounding areas. U.S. government employees needed special permission to use the airport as well as airports in Jeddah and Dammam, the U.S. Embassy wrote in a statement, advising extreme caution when using all major airports in the country.