Houthi missile kills 12 at Riyadh airport, Trump weighs US strikes

A missile attack on Riyadh's main airport killed 12 people and wounded more than 300 others on Saturday, marking the deadliest strike inside Saudi Arabia in over a decade. Saudi officials blamed Yemen's Iran-backed Houthis for the assault on King Khalid International Airport, while the group renewed warnings for airlines and travelers to avoid Saudi airports and airspace except those in Mecca and Medina.

The victims included one American along with citizens from Saudi Arabia, Bangladesh, Egypt, Jordan, Palestine, Syria and Sudan. Airport operations remained suspended into Sunday, and Saudi authorities extended the closure amid threats of further strikes. A separate projectile was reported near King Fahd International Airport in Dammam, though details on any damage there stayed limited.

The Houthis, who control large parts of Yemen including the capital Sanaa, did not immediately claim responsibility for the Riyadh attack. They did, however, repeat earlier cautions that Saudi airports have become legitimate targets due to the kingdom's military role in Yemen. Saudi Arabia has increased airstrikes and support for Yemeni government forces in recent weeks following Houthi gains along the Red Sea coast.

President Trump told reporters Saturday that the United States would consider joining Saudi operations against the Houthis. "We may. We're going to look at it," he said, adding that decisions would come quickly after reviewing the latest attack. Two Saudi officials described requests for urgent American defense support to help the coalition in Yemen, though the White House offered no immediate confirmation of any commitment.

The attack unfolded against a broader backdrop of renewed fighting that has broken a UN-brokered ceasefire in place since 2022. Saudi-backed Yemeni forces launched Operation Dawn of Yemen to retake Sanaa, prompting airstrikes on Houthi positions in the capital that have already killed civilians, including a child in one reported incident. Houthi health authorities claim 91 Yemenis killed and 168 wounded by coalition actions in the past five weeks, with a high share of women and children among the dead.

Trump's comments raised immediate questions about American entanglement in another Middle East conflict tied to the ongoing confrontation with Iran. The Houthis have disrupted shipping lanes in the past, and further escalation could again threaten oil flows from the Persian Gulf. International reactions included condemnations from several Arab governments and the United Nations, while an energy conference in Riyadh was set to proceed despite the violence.

Saudi coalition spokesman Colonel Turki Al-Maliki called the airport strike a war crime and vowed a decisive response under international law. Riyadh has faced criticism for its long involvement in Yemen, where earlier campaigns produced widespread civilian casualties and drew accusations of overreach. The latest developments suggest the conflict is expanding beyond proxy lines, with risks that American forces could be drawn deeper into operations whose objectives remain unclear to many observers at home.

Civilian areas in Sanaa, largely spared during the earlier truce, now face renewed strikes as government forces advance from distant fronts. Yemenis in the capital expressed fear that their city could become a sustained battleground once more, recalling the heavy toll from Saudi-led operations that began in 2015.