At least 12 people were killed and 309 others wounded in a strike Saturday on Riyadh’s King Khalid International Airport, Saudi officials said.
In a statement, the Saudi General Authority of Civil Aviation said an American was among the 12 victims. Four Saudi nationals, two Bangladeshi nationals, one Egyptian, one Jordanian, one Syrian, one Palestinian and one Sudanese national were also among those killed.
Another 309 people were wounded, the civil aviation authority said, an unknown number of whom were in critical condition.
The U.S. State Department has blamed the Iran-backed Houthi militant group for the strike, although the Houthis have not claimed responsibility for it.
“The United States strongly condemns the recent attacks on the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia by the terrorist Houthis, including today’s strike on King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh that took numerous innocent lives, including an American citizen,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a social media post.
A violent conflict between a Saudi-backed coalition that supports the Yemeni government and the Houthis, who control a large swath of Yemen, has been building for weeks as the Houthis have expanded control of Yemen’s Red Sea coastline and several islands in the Bab al-Mandab Strait, a critical waterway that has put further pressure on the movement of oil globally.
Earlier Saturday, President Trump said he was considering whether to have the U.S. join the fight against the Houthis.
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