Yemen's Houthis on Sunday renewed their warning to airlines, airport workers and travellers to stay away from Saudi airports, declaring the kingdom's airports and airspace a "theatre of operations" for their forces — a day after a missile strike on Riyadh's King Khalid International Airport killed 12 people and wounded more than 300.
Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree said all Saudi airports and airspace are "exposed to targeting," exempting only the skies above the holy cities of Mecca and Medina. He urged everyone to "take our warning seriously," adding that Saudi Arabia "bore responsibility for failed interceptions" during Saturday's attack. It was the deadliest attack in the kingdom in more than a decade.
The warning is already grounding planes. Lufthansa Group and several Indian carriers have suspended or cancelled flights to Riyadh following the Houthi threats and attacks, and international airlines are reviewing their operations across Saudi Arabia as the security situation deteriorates.
The Saudi-led coalition said Saturday that a projectile also fell near King Fahd International Airport in Dammam, in the kingdom's Eastern Province, and reported intercepting a drone in the region on Sunday. Yemen's army, meanwhile, launched airstrikes on Houthi positions in the southwestern province of Taiz as fighting escalates on multiple fronts.
Background: this story was first published Saturday as "Houthis Claim Riyadh Airport Attack That Killed 12 and Wounded 309 as Trump Weighs Joining Saudi Strikes." What follows is the original report.
Saudi Arabia's civil aviation authority said Sunday that Saturday's missile strike on Riyadh's King Khalid International Airport killed 12 people and wounded 309 — the deadliest attack in the kingdom in more than a decade. Reuters reports the Iran-backed Houthis claimed responsibility for the strike, a major escalation of their campaign against the Saudis.
The dead included four Saudis, two Bangladeshis, and one person each from the United States, Jordan, Palestine, Syria, Sudan, and Egypt, the authority said. Hospitals were flooded with the wounded, brought in by ambulance and helicopter. Some are in critical condition. All flights were diverted from Riyadh on Saturday, and operations at the airport serving a city of roughly 8 million people were temporarily suspended.
Saturday's attack came without warning — no alert was issued by Saudi Arabia's threat warning system. It was the third attack on the airport this week. The two earlier strikes killed four people and caused heavy damage to a Saudi commercial plane parked on the tarmac.
A Saudi-led military coalition vowed to respond. The death toll now piles pressure on President Donald Trump, who said Saturday the United States may join Saudi strikes against the Houthis: "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."
The Houthis have stepped up missile and drone attacks on Saudi Arabia in recent weeks. The head of the Houthi media office said on X the group had "shut down Riyadh international airport," and the rebels have declared Saudi airspace a zone of military operations, urging airlines to stay out. The group says the strikes are retaliation for the Saudi-led offensive against them — and claims Saudi airstrikes in Yemen have killed 91 people since early September. (Note: some outlets, citing AP reporting, say there was no immediate Houthi claim of responsibility for Saturday's specific strike; Reuters reports the group did claim it.)
The strikes have exposed vulnerabilities in the kingdom's air defenses as it wages an air campaign against the Houthis in support of a ground offensive by Yemen's internationally recognized government. Saudi Arabia and the Yemeni government have claimed hundreds of strikes on Houthi-held territory; the Houthis say those killed civilians, including women and children.
President Donald Trump said Saturday the United States may join Saudi Arabia in military strikes against Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi rebels, after a missile struck Riyadh's King Khalid International Airport. Asked by reporters at the White House whether he had decided to take part in the Saudi campaign, Trump did not hesitate: "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."
The missile hit a complex housing Terminals 3 and 4, which handle domestic flights. The United States, Britain, Germany, Australia, and Canada all warned their citizens to stay away from the airport. American help for the Saudi offensive has so far included intelligence sharing, target identification, and planning, officials told the Associated Press. Trump's remarks signal Washington could now go further — putting US firepower directly behind the Saudi campaign.
The escalation comes in the week since a Saudi-led coalition launched a major offensive against the Houthis, with air support for Yemeni government forces trying to retake territory — including the Red Sea chokepoint of Bab el-Mandeb, which the Houthis seized over the summer after a 2022 ceasefire unravelled.
Not everyone in the region wants escalation. The Saudi and Omani foreign ministers spoke by phone Saturday about supporting diplomatic solutions to ease tensions, according to the Saudi government. And Riyadh is due to host a major investment summit later this month — the Future Investment Initiative runs October 26–29 — giving the kingdom every incentive to restore a sense of security fast.
With an American among the dead, a coalition vowing retaliation, and Trump promising a fast decision, the question now is whether US involvement stays behind the scenes — or moves into the open.