Riyadh: Yemen’s Houthi group said on Saturday it was ready to take reciprocal measures with Saudi Arabia to keep airports, seaports and other facilities serving humanitarian purposes outside the escalating military confrontation.
In a statement carried by Houthi-run Al Masirah TV, the group expressed its readiness for “all parties” to refrain from targeting sites of humanitarian importance, identifying airports and seaports as a priority.
The statement came as hostilities between the Houthis and Saudi Arabia intensified, with airstrikes on Houthi-held areas in Yemen continuing and the group launching missile and drone attacks against targets inside Saudi Arabia, including airports.
United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres condemned the Houthi attack on Riyadh’s King Khalid International Airport on Saturday, October 10, which Saudi authorities said killed at least 12 people and injured more than 300.
In a post on X, Guterres said that “attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure are a violation of international law” and called for them to cease immediately.
US President Donald Trump said the United States “may” join Saudi Arabia in taking action against the Houthis following the attack on the airport in the Saudi capital.
Speaking to reporters on the South Lawn of the White House, Trump said the administration would examine the situation before making a decision, adding that it had only just learnt of the attack.
The Saudi General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA) said on Sunday that the attack killed 12 people and injured 309 others. The fatalities included four Saudi citizens and eight foreign residents: two Bangladeshis and one each from the United States, Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Palestine and Sudan.
The injured were receiving treatment at several hospitals, with some in serious condition, the authority said. It added that operations at King Khalid International Airport had been temporarily suspended to assess the damage and ensure safety following repeated attacks on the country’s aviation facilities.
The authority said it was coordinating with relevant departments and would announce further developments separately.
The latest incident followed two attacks on the same airport on Thursday, which killed three Saudi citizens and wounded several others, according to a statement issued by the authority on Friday.
The October 10 attack was reported as the third targeting the airport amid an escalating Houthi campaign against Saudi Arabia that began this summer.
Yemen has been mired in conflict since late 2014, when the Houthis seized the capital, Sanaa, and much of the country’s north. A Saudi-led coalition intervened in 2015 in support of the internationally recognised Yemeni government, which is now based in the southern port city of Aden.