At least 12 people have been killed and 309 injured in an attack on King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, according to local authorities.
The Saudi civil aviation authority confirmed that the dead included four Saudi nationals, two Bangladeshis and one citizen each of the United States, Jordan, Palestine, Syria, Sudan and Egypt.
Airport operations have been suspended as authorities assess the damage and respond to the casualties. Some of the injured were reported to be in critical condition.
A Saudi-led military coalition subsequently vowed to retaliate, describing the attack as a “war crime” and blaming Yemen’s Houthi rebels.
The Houthis had not commented on Saturday’s assault at the time of the report. However, they claimed responsibility for separate strikes on the same airport on Thursday, which reportedly killed three people and damaged an aircraft.
Three other people were also killed in separate Houthi attacks on two Saudi airports on October 6 and 7.
Saturday’s assault was described as the deadliest attack in Saudi Arabia since May 2015.
An eyewitness who said they were inside the airport’s domestic terminal told a news agency that gate 401 had been hit and they had seen people injured.
“Injured (people) in front of my eyes,” the witness said, adding, “Everyone was running.”
Reuters, citing an eyewitness, reported that more than a dozen ambulances were seen rushing to the airport to evacuate the injured.
The Saudi-led coalition also said a projectile landed near King Fahd International Airport in Dammam, eastern Saudi Arabia, on Saturday.
The attacks come amid renewed fighting between Yemen’s Saudi-backed government forces and the Houthis, who are backed by Iran and control much of the country.
