Saudi airport attack: Trump says US could join fight against Houthis

An unidentified projectile struck Saudi Arabia’s main international airport on Sunday, injuring people, a day after a deadly missile attack at the same site raised questions about whether the United States would join another conflict in the region.

Saudi Arabia’s General Authority of Civil Aviation confirmed those injured in the new attack on Riyadh’s King Khalid International Airport, but did not provide a count. He said authorities were assessing the damage and checking the security of airport facilities.

The Saudi-led coalition said the projectile hit Terminal 4 at Riyadh’s King Khalid International Airport, sparking a fire that authorities were working to contain. It also reported intercepting and destroying a cruise missile near the airport.

Saturday’s strike killed at least 13 people and injured more than 300, according to Saudi civil aviation authorities. The victims included an American as well as four Saudi citizens, two Bangladeshi nationals, an Egyptian, a Jordanian, a Palestinian, a Syrian and a Sudanese.

The Indian embassy in Saudi Arabia announced on Sunday that an Indian national injured in Saturday’s attack had died. The embassy said it was in contact with the family and would help repatriate the remains.

Some of the injured were in critical condition, authorities said, while airport operations remained suspended Sunday.

President Donald Trump later said the United States was considering joining Saudi military operations against Iran-backed Houthi rebels.

“We can do it. We’ll think about it,” Trump told reporters. “We have just learned of the recent attack. So we will make a decision. We are acting very quickly.”

Saturday’s attack drew widespread condemnation and increased pressure on the kingdom and its allies to respond to the Houthi rebels. The attack was the deadliest to hit the kingdom in a decade and marked a sharp escalation in the Yemen-based Houthis’ campaign against the major oil exporter, which has already shaken the global economy.

The Saudi government and its allies have blamed the Houthis for Saturday’s attack. The group did not immediately claim responsibility for the latest attack, although it renewed its warning to stay away from Saudi airports.

Washington also blamed the Houthis for Saturday’s attack, the latest in a series on the ground. very busy establishment over the last week. Three people were killed there during an attack on Thursday.

The attack has sparked renewed scrutiny of Washington’s response to the widening conflict, in which the Houthis have struck Saudi energy infrastructure and seized territory that gives them leverage over shipping in the Red Sea.

The United States launched a three-month bombing campaign against the Houthis last year to prevent them from targeting shipping. through this critical waterway, an alternative to the Strait of Hormuz.

The Saudis will look to allies like Pakistan, Turkey, Syria, Egypt and the United States for help, said Fawaz Gerges, professor of international relations at the London School of Economics.

“But I very much doubt that there is an answer or even a military solution to the Yemeni conflict,” he told NBC News.

“The Houthis are determined to fight to the end,” Gerges said. “I suspect that the reason the United States has been reluctant is not only because of the war in Iran, but also because the United States tried for several months to force the Houthis to withdraw, and it was unsuccessful. »

At the same time, the Houthis are becoming “day by day more agile, more resourceful, more deadly, and I think what we’ve seen in recent weeks is that the Houthis’ targeting system has become much more effective,” he said.

Egypt said on Sunday it “stands firmly” with Saudi Arabia, expressing “strong condemnation” of the attacks. Qatar called the missile strike a “serious violation of Saudi Arabia’s sovereignty and a direct threat to regional security.”

Germany and Canada also condemned the attacks, with Prime Minister Mark Carney calling them “heinous.”

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres blamed the Houthis, calling the attack a “violation of international law.” The Saudi-led coalition fighting the Houthis called the attack a “real war crime” and promised a tough response.

The renewed fighting has grown alongside the wider war involving Iran, with the Houthis stepping up attacks on Saudi territory as Saudi-backed forces battle the group in Yemen. The latest violence follows the failure of a truce in July and a new Saudi-backed offensive against Houthi positions.

The Houthis have expanded their operations along Yemen’s Red Sea coast and around the Bab el Mandeb Strait, a key maritime route linking the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden. Disruptions there threaten international trade and energy shipments, raising fuel prices and adding another source of instability to global markets.

Trump has focused intensely on energy prices in the run-up to the midterm elections, including a diesel deal with the Kremlin that stunned Ukraine. But he has so far resisted deeper involvement in the Middle East.

After significant advances by Houthi forces last month, Trump said the group had contacted the United States to emphasize that they “don’t want to fight with us” and “would much prefer not to involve us.”

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman urged Trump in September to take military action against the Houthis, a person familiar with the matter told NBC News.

“America can bring a lot of things,” said Abdulkhaleq Abdulla, a retired political science professor from the United Arab Emirates.

“It doesn’t have to be in the form of an all-out fight against the Houthis, but American sharing of intelligence, with America providing the best of the defense systems against the Houthis’ drones and missiles, is necessary, and I think if that is achieved, Saudi Arabia and others will be able to defend themselves,” he said.

Abdulla also called on Turkey and Pakistan to come to Saudi Arabia’s defense. The three countries signed a joint defense agreement in Mecca in August, a pact between the United States’ Sunni Muslim allies alarmed by the growing regional conflict.

“Now is the time to activate what this alliance treaty entails,” Abdulla added. “An attack on one is an attack on all. »