Saudi Arabia on Sunday morning.. Details of a major Houthi attack on King Khalid Airport revealed by the “Coalition” and Trump comments

- At least 12 people were killed and hundreds wounded on Saturday when Yemen's Houthi militants targeted an airport in the Saudi capital, as the Iran-backed group escalated its campaign against the kingdom. This was the third attack on this international airport during the week, and the deadliest against a key US ally in more than a decade.

The Kingdom's Civil Aviation Authority announced, on Sunday, that the attack on King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh resulted in the killing of 4 Saudi citizens, two residents from Bangladesh, and one resident from each of the United States, Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Palestine and Sudan, adding that 309 people were injured. One of the injured passengers told Reuters news agency that they saw something flying through the sky outside, before part of the ceiling collapsed near the departure gate.

Another traveler reported that he heard an explosion before seeing several wounded people lying on the ground. The Saudi Civil Aviation Authority said, according to Reuters, that all flights from the city, which is inhabited by about 8 million people, have been diverted, and airport operations have been temporarily halted.

The United States, the United Kingdom, Spain and Canada are among the countries that have warned their citizens against using the airport. An incident on Saturday revealed "weak points" in the Kingdom's defense capabilities, at a time when it is launching an air campaign in support of the internationally recognized Yemeni government, which is fighting the Houthis on the ground.

After the explosion, the head of the Houthi media office said in a post on the “X” platform that the group had “closed” the airport, Reuters reported. Reuters added that the group also warned aircraft against using Saudi airspace, and declared it a military operations area after the Yemeni government launched an attack against the group on Monday.

The coalition's Joint Forces Command confirmed the Houthis' responsibility for the attack that targeted the airport's passenger terminal, resulting in the deaths of passengers and employees. US President Donald Trump said on Saturday that he intends to speak with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman following the attack.

“I think it's terrible,” Trump told reporters at Joint Base Andrews. Asked outside the White House whether Washington planned to join Saudi strikes against the Houthis, a militia allied with US foe Iran, Trump told reporters: “We might do that.

He added: “We have just learned of the recent attack, so we will make a decision.” US Secretary of State Marco Rubio confirmed, in a post on the “X” platform, that an American citizen was among those killed, denouncing the attacks and considering that they show “a blatant disregard for the lives of innocent civilians.”

Informed people told Reuters that the wounded, some of whom were in critical condition, were transported to hospitals on Saturday by ambulance and helicopter. Reuters said that two previous attacks targeted the airport this week, killing 4 people and causing serious damage to a Saudi commercial plane.

The Secretary-General of the United Nations, António Guterres, condemned the latest strike, and said in a post on the “X” platform that “attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure constitute a violation of international law.” The civil war in Yemen renewed this summer and intensified dramatically last month, after years of relative calm.

For 11 years, Saudi Arabia tried to contain the conflict on its southern border through military and diplomatic force, and fought a war against the Houthis, then held peace talks with them and resumed diplomatic relations with Tehran, their main supporter. Despite these efforts, a series of “miscalculations” made Riyadh vulnerable to further conflict in Yemen, according to experts.

Saudi Arabia ended its long-term partnership with the UAE late last year due to its support for a rival force in Yemen. It also misjudged Trump's willingness to support it when needed, and faced difficulties in organizing the scattered armed factions fighting the Houthis. Now Riyadh is trying to regain its footing by supporting its Yemeni partners in another campaign against the Houthis, dubbed “Yemen’s Dawn.”