Twelve people were killed and 309 others injured in an attack on King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh on Saturday afternoon, Saudi Arabia’s General Authority of Civil Aviation said in an update on Sunday.
The fatalities included four Saudi citizens and eight foreign nationals: two Bangladeshis and one each from the United States, Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Palestine and Sudan.
The injured are receiving medical treatment at several hospitals, including some in critical condition, the authority said. The attack also caused material damage, which authorities are assessing.
The UK described the latest incident as “serious” and airlines including Kuwait’s national carrier scrapped flights.
President Donald Trump said he plans to speak with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. “What happened in Saudi Arabia is not acceptable,” he told reporters on Saturday evening on his return to Washington from a political rally. Earlier in the day, Mr Trump said the US may consider whether to join the Saudi-led coalition fighting the Houthi rebels.
“We may. We’re going to look at it," he said.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio confirmed an American had been killed in the "reprehensible" attacks.
Hospitals were flooded with wounded brought by ambulance and helicopter, people briefed on the matter said. Some were in critical condition.
Saturday's attack, the deadliest in the kingdom in more than a decade, occurred without warning, with no alert issued by Saudi Arabia's threat warning system. This week's two previous attacks on King Khalid International Airport left four people dead and caused heavy damage to a Saudi commercial plane parked on the tarmac.
Some 260 flights to and from Riyadh were canceled Saturday and another 219 were delayed, according to data from air traffic monitor Flightradar24.
The Houthis are facing a ground offensive from a Saudi-led coalition in Yemen. Soldiers from the internationally recognised Yemeni government and the Saudi air force are working to take back territory won by the militant group over the past month near the strategic Bab Al Mandeb Strait.
The offensive began on Sunday and the coalition says it has gained ground, including retaking the Red Sea port city of Mokha. The Saudi-led group says it aims to “eliminate” the Houthis, who control territory that is home to around 70 per cent of Yemen’s population, including the capital, Sanaa.
The deadly strikes exposed vulnerabilities in the kingdom's defence capabilities as it wages an air campaign against the Houthis to support a ground war by the Yemeni government against the Iran-backed group.
A Saudi-led military coalition vowed to respond to the attack.
Saudi Arabia and the Yemeni government have claimed hundreds of strikes on targets in Houthi-held territory. The Houthis have said these killed civilians including women and children. Reuters could not independently verify those claims.
