A suspected Houthi attack on Riyadh’s international airport has killed at least 12 people and injured 309 others, including an Irish man, in one of the most serious assaults on Saudi civilian infrastructure in recent years.
In the aftermath, Yemen’s Houthis warned airlines, passengers and airport employees to keep away from Saudi airports.
- Advertisement -
Saudi civil aviation officials confirmed the deaths and injuries, while the Saudi-led coalition vowed a forceful response against the Houthis.
The Department of Foreign Affairs said an Irish man was among those hurt and that consular assistance was being provided.
The strike came amid an unprecedented surge in Houthi attacks against the kingdom since a truce in the group’s long-running war with Yemen’s Riyadh-backed government collapsed in July.
The Saudi civil aviation authority said four Saudi citizens were among the dead, along with two people from Bangladesh and one person each from the US, Jordan, Palestine, Syria, Sudan and Egypt.
Several of those injured were reported to be in serious condition.
Saudi authorities rarely acknowledge strikes on civilian locations. Aviation officials did not identify the Houthis by name when announcing the casualties.
Damage seen in aftermath of attack on Riyadh airport
Flights and other operations at the sprawling King Khalid International Airport were suspended after the attack, according to Saudi civil aviation officials.
The extent of the damage was still being assessed.
The Houthis repeated their warning to airlines, airport staff and travellers, insisting that the threat should be taken seriously and saying Saudi Arabia “bore responsibility for failed interceptions”.
The Irish Embassy in Riyadh advised Irish citizens to avoid the airport, monitor airline updates, consult local media and follow official safety instructions.
It also asked anyone affected by the attack to contact the embassy in an emergency.
A medical source said health authorities had activated a rare mass mobilisation of doctors to respond to what was described as a “serious emergency situation”.
One passenger said they saw a strike in the airport’s domestic terminal.
“I was on gate 403,” the witness said. “I saw 401 hit, I saw injuries in front of my eyes. Everyone was running.”
Hours later, a spokesman for the Saudi-led international coalition fighting Yemen’s Houthis said on X that a “projectile” had landed near King Fahd International Airport in Dammam.
Early this morning, the coalition said it had intercepted another missile southeast of the Saudi capital.
The Houthis have not claimed responsibility for the Riyadh airport attack, but the Saudi-led military coalition said it would retaliate.
The group did claim a series of strikes on the airport on Thursday, attacks that killed three people and damaged an aircraft.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen described the latest assault as “a dangerous escalation”.
“These attacks by Iran’s proxies are pushing the region into a spiral of violence.
“They are destabilising crucial global transport and energy nodes with shockwave sent through the world.
“These murderous attacks at civilians must stop at once,” she said in a post on X.
UK Defence Minister Wes Streeting also condemned the attack as a “dangerous escalation” and called it “contemptible”.
US ‘may’ join Saudi strikes
Yemen’s civil war returned to the forefront in July when a four-year, UN-brokered truce collapsed, several months into a broader Middle East conflict that has shaken the region and unsettled energy supplies and markets.
Saudi Arabia has led an international coalition backing Yemen’s government militarily since 2015 and is now becoming increasingly entangled in the conflict next door.
Asked yesterday whether he had reconsidered joining Saudi strikes against the Houthis, US President Donald Trump replied: “We may.”
“We’re going to look at it,” Mr Trump told reporters at the White House. “We just found out about the recent attack, so we’ll make a decision.”
Mr Trump said he “will be speaking” with Saudi Arabia’s de facto leader, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, after the attack.
“What happened in Saudi Arabia is not acceptable,” Mr Trump said.
Video shows smoke rising at Riyadh airport after previous attack on Thursday
US media outlets have reported that earlier Saudi requests for American military assistance against the Houthis were rejected.
The US, Canadian, German and Spanish embassies in Saudi Arabia have likewise urged their citizens to stay away from the airport.
A senior Western diplomat said several embassies had told staff they were prohibited from using the airport “over the next week”.
Passengers with luggage were seen standing on a footpath near a metro station close to the airport.
The attack occurred just before Saudi Arabia’s high-profile convention and entertainment season, which begins this month.
Riyadh typically stages a packed programme of events, including its flagship investment conference, which attracts foreign leaders and major business figures.
Fighters loyal to the Houthis seen taking part in a rally to recruit more fighters in Sanaa in Yemen
‘Moving up the escalation ladder’
In Yemen, military sources said Saudi-backed government forces were making advances against the Houthis in areas near the Bab al-Mandab strait that the group seized last month.
The Yemeni government announced a counter-offensive last week, saying it aimed to recover all territory held by the Houthis.
The Houthis confirmed that government forces had launched an assault in the Bab al-Mandab area, a strategic chokepoint for Red Sea oil and cargo shipping, but said their fighters had pushed the attack back.
It has not been possible to independently verify claims from either side, as the battlefield situation has shifted rapidly and journalists have faced difficulties accessing the area.
Analyst Anna Jacob of the Arab Gulf States Institute said the latest attacks were likely to prompt Saudi Arabia to adopt an even harder line against the Houthis.
“One thing is for sure, we are moving up the escalation ladder in a very dangerous way,” she said.
