CAIRO (AP) — The international airport in Saudi Arabia's capital, Riyadh, was attacked again Saturday as the kingdom faces an extraordinary series of assaults in the new front in the Iran war. President Donald Trump said he was evaluating whether the U.S. should join Saudi strikes against the Tehran-backed Houthi rebels in neighboring Yemen. The Houthis claimed attacks earlier in the week on King Khalid International Airport that killed three Saudis, including a pilot.
On Saturday, a missile struck a complex housing terminals 3 and 4 for domestic flights and many people were wounded, a regional official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to speak to the media. We're going to look at it," Trump said of intervening. "We just found out about the recent attack.
So we'll make a decision. We move very quickly." The surge in attacks, including against other Saudi airports, military facilities and oil infrastructure, has come in the week since a Saudi-led coalition launched a major military offensive against the Houthis. There was no immediate statement from the rebels, who earlier Saturday accused Saudi Arabia of striking Sanaa International Airport in the Houthi-held Yemeni capital.
Saudi civil aviation authorities said airport operations were suspended and the extent of injuries and damage was being assessed. An official notice to aviators said the suspension was through midnight. The airport had a heavy police presence, with all entrances blocked, and lights around the complex were dimmed.
Flights diverted elsewhere, the Flightradar24 tracker said. Countries including the United States, Britain, Germany, Australia and Canada warned citizens to avoid the airport. The attacks on Saudi Arabia, the world's top oil exporter, have rattled markets and the region.
And yet the Saudi energy ministry hours after the latest one was still promoting a major international energy conference set to begin in Riyadh on Sunday. Fighting in Yemen between the Houthis and Saudi-backed Yemeni government forces has escalated, with the Saudi-led coalition providing air support for government forces attempting to reverse recent Houthi gains along the Red Sea. Those gains gave the rebels better surveillance of shipping on a corridor that is a crucial alternative to the Strait of Hormuz, where Iran has been attacking ships.
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