Yemen fighting expands as Houthis attack Saudi airport: What to know

Saudi coalition blames Houthi group for the missile strike that struck King Khalid International Airport in the capital Riyadh. Save Share Saudi Arabia has vowed to “firmly” retaliateagainst an attackon Riyadh’s international airport, which left at least 12 people dead, with US President Donald Trump calling the attack “terrible”. The Saudi-led military coalition on Sunday blamed Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi group for Saturday’s attack on King Khalid International Airport, describing it as a “full-fledged war crime”. The Houthis have not claimed responsibility for the latest strike. However, on Sunday, the Houthis, also known as Ansar Allah, renewed ⁠⁠⁠⁠their warning to ⁠⁠⁠⁠airlines, airport workers, and travellers against using ‌‌‌‌Saudi airports, saying the warning should be taken seriously ⁠⁠⁠⁠and that the ⁠⁠⁠⁠kingdom “bore responsibility for failed interceptions”. The attack comes amid escalating fighting between the Houthis and Saudi-backed Yemeni government forces following the collapse of a UN-brokered ceasefire largely in place since 2022. The fighting has raised fears of a wider regional confrontation, with the US President suggesting Washington could join Saudi military operations against the Houthis. Dania Thafer, executive director at the Gulf International Forum, said Saudi Arabia will likely hit back at the Houthis “pretty hard”. “I still think that the Saudis probably want de-escalation. They don’t want long-term escalation but the Houthis are making it very difficult by not only being a threat to Saudi national security but also a threat to international maritime security,” Thafer said. “So this battle is much bigger than just a tit-for-tat.” Here is what you need to know: According to Saudi Arabia’s civil aviation authority, the attack struck King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh on Saturday. It wounded at least 309 others, some of them critically. The dead included four Saudi nationals, two Bangladeshis and one citizen each from the US, Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Palestine and Sudan. It was the deadliest attack on the Kingdom in more than a decade. “The cowardly terrorist attack by the Terrorist Houthi Militia … which resulted in deaths and injuries among civilian passengers and airport staff, constitutes a full-fledged war crime,” coalition spokesman Major General Turki al-Malki said in a statement on X....