A projectile has struck King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh, killing a Pakistani national and injuring 11 people, Saudi Arabia’s civil aviation authority has said.
The General Authority of Civil Aviation said the injured passengers had been taken to several hospitals. Damage assessments and safety inspections were under way following the attack.
The strike hit terminals 3 and 4, which serve domestic flights, a day after an earlier missile attack on the airport killed 12 people and wounded more than 300, according to the Saudi-led coalition fighting Houthi rebels in Yemen.
India’s embassy in Saudi Arabia said one of its citizens had died on Sunday from injuries suffered in Saturday’s attack. That would bring the death toll from the earlier strike to 13.
Riyadh airport attacks
A witness aboard an aircraft taxiing at the airport said the latest projectile struck the tarmac beside several parked planes at about 8.30pm local time on Sunday, starting a fire.
The aircraft returned to its gate and passengers were told to disembark and leave the airport, the witness said.
King Khalid International Airport has been struck four times in five days. Houthi attacks on Thursday killed at least three Saudi citizens, including a pilot, according to the civil aviation authority.
The airport has been closed since Saturday’s attack, described as the deadliest in Saudi Arabia since the US-Israel war on Iran began in late February.
The Houthis claimed responsibility for the strikes before Sunday’s attack. The escalation has intensified the conflict in Yemen and raised concerns about commercial shipping through the Bab al-Mandeb strait off the Yemeni coast.
The Saudi-led coalition is supporting forces loyal to Yemen’s internationally recognised government in an effort to retake key areas along the strait seized by the rebels last month.
US President Donald Trump has said he is considering whether to join the fight against the Houthis and had indicated he intended to speak with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who is seeking help against the rebels. There were no signs on Sunday that the conversation had taken place.
Fears that US intervention could lead the Houthis to halt shipping through the Bab al-Mandeb have added to pressure on global oil supplies and prices, while further restricting the movement of oil from the Gulf.
