A file photo shows travelers walking through the departure terminal of King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, April 2, 2026. /VCG
An attack targeting King Khalid International Airport in the Saudi capital Riyadh on Saturday afternoon killed 12 people and injured 309 others, the Saudi General Authority of Civil Aviation said, as Yemen's Houthi group and Saudi Arabia continued exchanging strikes on major airports.
The Saudi aviation authority said in a statement early Sunday that the fatalities included four Saudi citizens and eight foreign residents – two Bangladeshis and one each from the United States, Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Palestine and Sudan.
The injured are receiving treatment at several hospitals, with some in serious condition, the authority said.
The authority said in an earlier statement that operations at the airport had been temporarily suspended pending damage assessments and safety checks.
Following the Saturday attack, the Houthi group said in a statement that it was ready for reciprocal measures with Saudi Arabia to keep airports, seaports and other facilities with humanitarian functions outside the escalating military confrontation.
Houthi-run al-Masirah TV reported Saturday that Saudi Arabia launched a new wave of air and missile strikes across Houthi-held areas in Yemen, targeting Sanaa International Airport in the Houthi-held capital, areas near the strategic Bab al-Mandab Strait and several northern provinces.
Also on Saturday, Yemen's government forces said that more than 1,150 Houthi fighters had been "neutralized" and over 180 military and logistical vehicles destroyed or damaged in over 1,900 strikes across multiple fronts in Yemen in the past 24 hours. The figures could not be independently verified.
US President Donald Trump said on Saturday that he would soon decide whether to join Saudi strikes against Iran-backed Houthis after an attack on Riyadh's international airport.
"We may. 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."
Around Yemen's southwestern city of Taizz, Houthi advances have put increasing pressure on government forces defending the city and disrupted key roads connecting it with government-held areas in southern Yemen, according to government military sources. They said that fierce clashes were underway south of the city.
Supported by Saudi airstrikes, the Yemeni government launched a large-scale offensive on Monday, seeking to retake Houthi-held territory, with some of the fiercest fighting concentrated around the strategic Bab al-Mandab Strait.
Yemen has been mired in conflict since late 2014, when the Houthis seized the capital Sanaa and much of the country's north. A Saudi-led coalition intervened in 2015 in support of the internationally recognized Yemeni government, now based in the southern port city of Aden. The renewed fighting marked a major escalation after a UN-brokered truce in 2022 largely halted major hostilities.
(With input from agencies)
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