Riyadh airport attack kills and injures hundreds, Saudi officials say
Shortly after the attack on King Khalid International Airport, President Donald Trump said he was evaluating whether the U.S. should join Saudi strikes against the Houthis.
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- A strike on Riyadh’s King Khalid International Airport on Saturday killed at least 12 people and wounded another 309, according to Saudi authorities. An American was among the victims. Although the Iran-backed Houthis have not yet claimed responsibility for Saturday’s strike, the Houthis did say they were behind a previous strike Thursday on the same airport that killed three Saudi citizens.
- President Trump on Saturday left open the possibility the U.S. will join Saudi Arabia’s battle against the Houthis. “We may. We’re gonna look at it,” Mr. Trump said. Fighting between the Iranian proxy group and Saudi-backed forces in Yemen appears to be the new epicenter of the wider war.
- President Trump spoke with Russian leader Vladimir Putin on Friday to discuss freeing up millions of tons of diesel, but the Russian president also relayed Iran’s position on a peace deal to his American counterpart, according to the Kremlin.
The U.S. military disabled a Panama-flagged commercial vessel in the Gulf of Oman Saturday by firing on it with a fighter jet, U.S. military’s Central Command said.
According to CENTCOM, the fighter jet fired a “precision munition” at M/V Ocean Molica, also known as the “Arika Sun,” that disabled the “ship’s propulsion without harming the crew.”
The ship had recently departed an Iranian port. Iran’s ports have been under a U.S. blockade since a ceasefire between the two countriescollapsed in July.
Four commercial vessels have been disabled by U.S. forces and 135 ships have been turned around since the blockade took effect on July 14, CENTCOM said.
During that same period, U.S. forces have also destroyed 10 tankers that are believed to be part of a “shadow fleet” that transport sanctioned Iranian oil and petroleum products, CENTCOM said.
At least 12 killed, more than 300 injured in strike on Riyadh airport, Saudi officials say
At least 12 people were killed and 309 others wounded in a strike Saturday on Riyadh’s King Khalid International Airport, Saudi officials said.
In a statement, the Saudi General Authority of Civil Aviation said an American was among the 12 victims. Four Saudi nationals, two Bangladeshi nationals, one Egyptian, one Jordanian, one Syrian, one Palestinian and one Sudanese national were also among those killed.
Another 309 people were wounded, the civil aviation authority said, an unknown number of whom were in critical condition.
The U.S. State Department has blamed the Iran-backed Houthi militant group for the strike, although the Houthis have not claimed responsibility for it.
“The United States strongly condemns the recent attacks on the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia by the terrorist Houthis, including today’s strike on King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh that took numerous innocent lives, including an American citizen,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a social media post.
A violent conflict between a Saudi-backed coalition that supports the Yemeni government and the Houthis, who control a large swath of Yemen, has been building for weeks as the Houthis have expanded control of Yemen’s Red Sea coastline and several islands in the Bab al-Mandab Strait, a critical waterway that has put further pressure on the movement of oil globally.
Earlier Saturday, President Trump said he was considering whether to have the U.S. join the fight against the Houthis.
“Projectile” lands near Saudi’s Dammam airport, Saudi military says
The Saudi-led international coalition fighting Yemen’s Houthis said Saturday a “projectile” fell near Dammam’s international airport, hours after officials acknowledged an attack on Riyadh’s airport.
“A projectile landed near King Fahd International Airport in Dammam,” wrote the coalition spokesman on X.
U.S. “strongly” warns citizens to avoid Riyadh airport following attack
The U.S. is warning all citizens to avoid King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh in the wake of new attacks on the location Saturday, the embassy said.
“The U.S. Mission is aware of attacks on King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh on October 10 and strongly recommends all U.S. citizens avoid this airport and surrounding areas,” the U.S. Embassy in Saudi Arabia said on X. “U.S. government employees working in Saudi Arabia require special authorization to use the King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh. U.S. citizens should be aware of potential flight cancellations, airspace closures, and travel disruptions.”
While the airport nor the Iran-backed Houthis have confirmed an attack, there were widespread reports of an explosion at the main airport in Saudi’s capital and reports of injuries.
The Houthis have attacked the airport, which is hundreds of miles north of the Yemen border, several times this week. Four people have been killed in Houthi attacks on the airport, including three people on Thursday. One of those killed was a pilot for Saudia airline.
CBS
