A missile strike slammed into King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh on Saturday, killing 12 people and injuring more than 300 in the deadliest attack on a Gulf Arab state since the start of the regional conflict. The projectile struck a terminal complex housing domestic gates 3 and 4, sending thick smoke over the tarmac and bringing commercial aviation in the Saudi capital to an abrupt halt.
Saudi civil aviation authorities confirmed that the casualties spanned eight nationalities, including four Saudi citizens, a U.S. citizen, two Bangladeshi nationals, and passengers from Egypt, Jordan, the Palestinian territories, Syria, and Sudan. Authorities suspended airport operations through midnight, while flight-tracking services recorded hundreds of cancellations and diversions as international carriers reassessed the safety of operating in Saudi airspace.
Hours after the blast, President Donald Trump announced that the United States was evaluating whether to join Saudi forces in military strikes against Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi rebels. "We may. We're going to look at it," Trump told reporters, noting that Washington would reach a decision quickly. The assault followed an escalating campaign that began when a Saudi-led coalition launched an offensive to reverse Houthi territorial gains along Yemen's Red Sea coast, prompting retaliatory fire targeting Saudi airfields, oil facilities, and military posts.
The incident has also intensified scrutiny of the kingdom's depleted air defenses. Regional officials have warned that Saudi Arabia is running dangerously low on interceptor missiles after facing repeated drone and missile barrages, prompting appeals to France, Britain, Pakistan, and Egypt for air defense reinforcements. With European aviation regulators cautioning that ongoing interception attempts heighten the danger to commercial aircraft, the strike underscores the acute vulnerability of civilian transport hubs across the Gulf.