King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh sustained a second strike in two days on Sunday, according to Saudi military and civil aviation officials. A projectile struck Passenger Hall No. 4, igniting a fire and causing injuries, the Saudi civil aviation authority reported.
The attack follows a Saturday strike that killed 13 people and injured 308 others. The Houthis, an Iran-backed armed group based in Yemen, claimed responsibility for both strikes. Brig Gen Yahya Saree, the group's military spokesman, said they used ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and drones over a 24-hour period. He said the Houthis also targeted oil facilities and Dammam airport in eastern Saudi Arabia.
Saree vowed to continue "escalating operations deep inside Saudi Arabia," warning that all Saudi airports were potential targets except those in Mecca and Medina. The Houthis said they are targeting Saudi Arabia over its support for government forces in Yemen's civil war and over a Saudi air strike on Sanaa airport.
The Saturday attack was the deadliest single strike on a Gulf Arab country since the Israel-US-Iran conflict began in February, according to the BBC. Among the 13 dead were four Saudi nationals, two Bangladeshis and one person each from the US, Jordan, Palestine, Syria, Sudan and Egypt. An Indian man also died from injuries sustained in the attack, the Indian embassy reported.
US President Donald Trump said the US would "move very quickly" on whether to strike the Houthis. UK Defence Secretary Wes Streeting suggested the UK could "potentially" provide more support to Saudi Arabia. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio condemned the attacks and confirmed a US citizen was killed.
The Saudi-led military coalition called Saturday's strike a "war crime" and vowed to respond. On Sunday, Maj Gen Turki al-Maliki said air defences had intercepted a missile near the airport during the second strike.
The escalation comes after a temporary 2022 ceasefire between the Houthis and Saudi-led forces collapsed in July. The Houthis currently control about a quarter of Yemen's territory and approximately 80% of its population. Saudi Arabia fears Houthi control of Yemen would create an Iranian satellite state on its southern border.