A Missile Hit Riyadh Airport: The Third Attack on Saudi Airports This Week, and Trump Doesn't Rule Out a US Response

A missile hit the passenger terminal of King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh. Residents of the Saudi capital reported at least two powerful explosions, thick black smoke rose from the direction of the airport, and more than ten ambulances headed for the terminal. "Everyone was running," one witness said during the evacuation.

According to a diplomatic source, the Houthis of Yemen, the Iran-backed rebel group, are behind the attack. The hospital said five people are in intensive care and the number of injured is high; a media outlet close to Iraqi paramilitary groups reported 45 injured. Dozens of Saudi civilians were taken to hospital, and the Saudi authorities have not yet released a final figure.

This is the third attack on a Saudi airport this week. The previous two killed at least three people, including a Saudi pilot. The Saudi civil aviation authority halted all flights and said the attack is part of "continuous and blatant strikes on civil aviation facilities". Almost 300 flights were canceled in a single day, and Kuwait Airways, Etihad and Qatar Airways suspended flights to Riyadh until at least early next week.

Trump: "Maybe we'll get involved"

Asked whether Washington would militarily back Saudi Arabia, Trump left the door open: "Maybe. We'll look at the situation. We just found out about this latest attack, so we'll make a decision. We act very fast." In the Middle East, a sentence like that from the White House rarely stays just a sentence.

The context is grim. The US and Israel have been at war with Iran since February 28, and in recent weeks the Houthis have stepped up missile and drone attacks on Saudi airports, oil facilities and other targets. They claim they are responding to a new offensive by Yemeni forces backed by Riyadh. The informal truce in Yemen has collapsed, and fighting is again raging around the Bab el-Mandeb strait - one of the key shipping lanes between the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.

The European Union Aviation Safety Agency has already warned of increased risk to flights because of the growing range and precision of the attacks. When passenger terminals become targets, the line between "their" war and "ours" no longer exists. How many more airports have to be hit before someone gets serious about the war in Yemen?