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Yemen’s Houthis on Sunday warned airlines, airport workers and passengers against using Saudi airports and airspace after a deadly attack on King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh killed 12 people and wounded 309 others.
Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree said on X that Saudi airports and airspace were “exposed to targeting” and constituted a “theatre of operations” for the group’s forces, with the exception of airports in Mecca and Medina.
“The Yemeni Armed Forces renew their warning to all shipping companies, airlines, experts, employees, workers, and travelers against using Saudi airports and airspace,” Saree said.
He urged people to take the warnings seriously and said Saudi Arabia would bear responsibility for any failed interceptions.
Saree also said the group remained committed to what he described as the equations of “airport for airport, siege for siege, and escalation for escalation.”
Saturday’s attack on Riyadh airport was the deadliest on Saudi soil in more than a decade and marked a sharp escalation in the Yemen conflict.
The Houthis did not directly claim responsibility for the strike, but a spokesman for the Saudi-led coalition fighting the group in Yemen attributed the attack to the Iran-backed movement and called it a “full-fledged war crime.”
A diplomatic source also attributed the strike to a Houthi missile.
The Saudi-led coalition vowed to respond. On Sunday, Houthi media reported that two Saudi strikes had targeted Sanaa governorate in Yemen, which is controlled by the group.
The attack followed several strikes during the week on King Khalid International Airport. Three people were killed in an attack on the airport Thursday.
Saudi Arabia’s civil aviation authority said four Saudi citizens were among those killed Saturday, along with two Bangladeshis, one American, one Egyptian, one Jordanian, one Syrian, one Palestinian and one Sudanese.
It said some of the 309 injured were in serious condition.
A Western diplomat based in Riyadh told Agence France-Presse (AFP) that the official injury toll did not appear to reflect the full scale of the aftermath and may not include people with minor injuries.
The attack drew condemnation from a U.N. special envoy and several world leaders, including U.S. President Donald Trump.
Trump called the strike “not acceptable” and said Washington was considering joining Saudi military operations against the Houthis.
“We may. We’re going to look at it. We just found out about the recent attack, so we’ll make a decision,” Trump told reporters at the White House.
Saudi Arabia supports Yemen’s internationally recognized government against the Houthis, who captured areas along the Red Sea coast in an offensive last month.
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