US President Donald Trump said Washington could join Saudi Arabia’s military strikes against Yemen’s Houthis after an attack on Riyadh’s international airport killed 12 people and injured 309.
Trump said a decision would come quickly as Saudi authorities suspended airport operations and the kingdom’s forces pressed an offensive in Yemen, raising the prospect of deeper American involvement in the conflict.
The Saudi General Authority of Civil Aviation said Sunday’s updated casualty figures included four Saudi citizens and eight foreign nationals. “We may. We’re going to look at it. We just found out about the recent attack, so we’ll make a decision. When asked again about possible American involvement, the president replied, “We’ll find out. Two of the foreign victims were Bangladeshis, while the others came from the United States, Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Palestine and Sudan. Saudi Arabia’s military coalition blamed the Houthis and promised a firm response.
Speaking to reporters, President Trump said the US is considering joining Saudi strikes on the Houthis and will make a swift decision following the recent attack. We move very quickly,” he said. Trump later said he planned to speak with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman about the attack. “What happened in Saudi Arabia is not acceptable,” he told reporters.
The group had not immediately claimed responsibility for Saturday’s strike, although it had acknowledged attacks on the airport earlier in the week.
The figures could not be independently verified. UN envoy Hans Grundberg has warned that Yemen has returned to full-scale war, with civilians bearing the consequences. Yemeni government forces claimed that more than 1,150 Houthi fighters had been neutralised and over 180 military and logistical vehicles destroyed or damaged during more than 1,900 strikes in 24 hours. Yemen’s war began after the Houthis seized Sanaa in 2014. A Saudi-led coalition intervened in 2015 in support of the internationally recognised government. A UN-brokered truce in 2022 reduced major fighting, but hostilities resumed this year.
