WASHINGTON/RIYADH: US President Donald Trump said Saturday he would soon decide whether to join Saudi strikes against Iran-backed Houthis after an attack on Riyadh's international airport. "We're going to look at it.
We just found out about the recent attack, so we'll make a decision," Trump told reporters at the White House. "We move very quickly."
Saudi authorities suspended operations at Riyadh's King Khalid International Airport on Saturday after a fresh attack killed at least 2 people and wounded several others. A medical source at a local hospital identified one of the victims as an Egyptian flight attendant working for a Saudi airline, while the second was a Palestinian with Egyptian travel documents.
Another source briefed on the matter confirmed the deaths and the victims' nationalities. The situation prompted health officials to activate a rare mass call-up of doctors to deal with the "serious emergency," a medical source said, while foreign embassies warned their citizens to avoid the facility.
The Saudi civil aviation authority confirmed an attack had injured several people at the airport, with a diplomatic source attributing it to a missile fired by Yemen's Houthis. The Iran-backed group has repeatedly targeted the facility, claiming a series of strikes on Thursday that killed 3 people and damaged a plane, though they did not announce any new attacks on Saturday.
A witness at the airport reported hearing an explosion while waiting to board a flight, and another said they saw a strike that left people wounded and fleeing in panic. "I was on gate 403" at the domestic terminal, the witness told reporters.
"I saw 401 hit, I saw injured in front of my eyes. Everyone was running."
A medical source said, "We were told we are dealing with a 'serious emergency situation'. Injured are being moved to hospitals across Riyadh," with many in critical condition.
The aviation authority said the number of injured from Saturday's attack was still being assessed, adding airport "operations had been temporarily suspended pending the completion of an assessment of the damage and verification of the safety of the facilities." A source at a local hospital said 5 people were in intensive care there after being wounded at the airport, with "dozens of people injured" in all.
A relative of one wounded person said they had been hit in the shoulders and arms by shattered glass. Three witnesses confirmed people being evacuated from the airport.
A diplomatic source briefed on the matter said: "Houthis are attacking civilian targets. Riyadh airport is a civilian target." The US embassy in Saudi Arabia said it was "aware of attacks" on Riyadh airport on Saturday and called on American citizens to avoid the area.
The Canadian, German and Spanish embassies also warned their citizens to avoid the facility. Spain's embassy, in a message on X, alerted nationals to a "new attack." Meanwhile, a senior Western diplomat told reporters that in Yemen, Saudi-supported government forces were advancing against the Houthis in areas they captured last month around the Bab al-Mandab strait.
The Yemeni government last week announced a counter-offensive aimed at retaking all areas held by the Houthis.