The initial fatality and casualty count is horrific and unprecedented: at least 12 people have killed and 50 more were injured (NYT) in the Houthi missile attack on King Khalid International Airport in Ryiadh on Saturday. A missile is reported to have directly struck the busy Terminal 3 of the major hub. Saudi state sources are listing over 300 among the injured.
The New York Times calls it “the deadliest attack in a Gulf Arab country since the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran began in February.” Dozens of ambulances were at the scene and area hospitals saw a huge influx of patients needing emergency care. Some among the dozens admitted to the hospitals are said to be in critical condition. All air traffic to and from the airport has been suspended and flights diverted amid the emergency.
This mass casualty event could open up a bigger war, but also questions of the failures of Western anti-air defenses in the kingdom. The NYT writes:
Across the border in Yemen, Saudi warplanes have been waging a deadly bombing campaign against the Houthis, who say that the country has been subjected to hundreds of airstrikes in recent weeks. Since Sept. 3, airstrikes have killed 91 people in Yemen, mostly women and children, according to Anees al-Asbahi, a spokesman for the Houthi government-affiliated health ministry.
Mohammed al-Bukhaiti, a senior Houthi official, said the militia was responsible for the attack in Riyadh on Saturday, which he said was in retaliation for Saudi strikes, including on civilian infrastructure in Yemen.
National sources are citing various injuries in the hundreds after the airport attack, and reports of an American among the dead:
Saudi state sources/Aviation Authority: At least 12 people were killed and 309 injured, some critically
so when black women wear blonde or red hair are they fired from their jobs? or kicked off welfare for cultural misappropriation?