Summary Operations at King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh were suspended after the attack, the Saudi Civil Aviation Authority said in a statement.
(Web Desk) - The Iran-backed Houthi militia attacked an international airport in the Saudi capital on Saturday, killing at least 12 people and injuring 309, according to three officials briefed on the strike, which came as the war between Saudi Arabia and the Houthis sharply escalates.
The strike was the deadliest attack in a Gulf Arab country since the US-Israeli war with Iran began in February.
The officials — two Western and one Arab official — spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the news media.
Operations at King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh were suspended on Saturday after the attack, the Saudi Civil Aviation Authority said in a statement.
More than a dozen ambulances were seen rushing to the airport, according to news agency Reuters, citing an eyewitness.
The US embassy said it was "aware of attacks on King Khalid International Airport" and urged American citizens to avoid the airport and surrounding areas.
The attack comes a day after authorities said three Saudis including a pilot were killed in two attacks on the airport by the Iran-backed Houthis the day prior. Another three people were killed in Houthi attacks on two Saudi airports on 6 and 7 October.
A source at a local hospital told AFP that dozens of people had been wounded in Saturday's attack.
An eyewitness who said they had been in the domestic terminal told the news agency that they had seen gate 401 hit and "injured [people] in front of my eyes", adding: "Everyone was running."
Western embassies in Saudi Arabia have warned their citizens away from the airport, while the UK Foreign Office told British nationals to stay away "until the airport is secure and to monitor the advice of the Saudi authorities".
Several Gulf airlines said they had cancelled their flights to and from the airport, with Kuwait Airways citing the "security situation" there.
All flights to Riyadh have either been diverted or cancelled, aviation tracker Flightradar shows.
Doctors had been asked to report to hospitals to address the situation, a medical source told AFP.
"We were told we are dealing with a 'serious emergency situation'," the medical source told the agency.
The suspected attack comes during a marked escalation in renewed fighting between Yemen's Saudi-backed government forces and the Houthis, who control most of the country's north-west.
