On Saturday a missile struck King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh, killing 12 people and wounding 309, Saudi aviation officials said. Those killed came from many countries: four were Saudi, two Bangladeshi, and others were from the United States, Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Palestine and Sudan. It was the deadliest attack on the kingdom in more than a decade.
On Sunday the Houthis, an Iran-backed movement that controls much of northern Yemen, claimed attacks on the airport, and a second strike hit it that evening, causing injuries. Flights have been suspended, and schools in Riyadh have moved online for a week. Saudi Arabia has promised to retaliate "firmly". The fighting grew after the Saudi-backed Yemeni government launched an offensive on October 4 to retake Houthi-held land, and a UN-brokered truce that had largely held since 2022 has collapsed.
President Trump said on Saturday the United States "may" join Saudi operations against the Houthis. Senator Chris Murphy, a Democrat, warned on television that the war is "spiraling out of control". The US war with Iran, which began with strikes in late February, is part of the backdrop.