World leaders condemn attack on Riyadh airport

Leaders and senior officials from across the world have condemned the deadly attack on Saudi Arabia’s King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh that killed 12 people and injured more than 300.

US President Donald Trump said on Saturday that Washington was considering joining Saudi strikes against Yemen’s Houthi rebels, according to US media reports. United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney were among those who denounced the attack, while Pakistan, Qatar, Palestine, Jordan and Malaysia expressed solidarity with Saudi Arabia.

Saturday’s strike, which Saudi Arabia blamed on the Iran-backed Houthis, was the latest in a series of attacks on the kingdom’s infrastructure amid an intensifying conflict in Yemen. Saudi airports have come under several attacks this month, including strikes on Riyadh and Abha.

The latest violence comes against the backdrop of the wider war involving Iran and its regional adversaries, raising concerns about further instability across the region.

Von der Leyen said the attack marked a “dangerous escalation”, expressed solidarity with Saudi Arabia and its people, and offered condolences to the victims and their families. She said attacks by Iran’s proxies were pushing the region into a spiral of violence and destabilising crucial global transport and energy nodes.

The EU chief described the attacks on civilians as murderous and said they must stop immediately.

Guterres on Sunday said he was “deeply shocked” by the attack and strongly condemned it. “Attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure are a violation of international law. These attacks must cease immediately,” the UN chief said in a post on X. Trump said on Saturday he was considering whether the United States should join Saudi strikes 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. We move very quickly,” he told reporters, according to the AP news agency.

Rubio said the US strongly condemned the recent attacks on Saudi Arabia, including the strike on Riyadh’s airport that killed an American citizen.

“These reprehensible attacks must stop,” he said, adding that Washington stood with Saudi Arabia and extending condolences to the victims and their families.

Carney described the Houthi attacks as “abhorrent”, saying there could be no justification for attacks on civilian infrastructure or the deliberate targeting of innocent people.

“Canada condemns these reckless acts of violence in the strongest possible terms,” he said in a social media post, extending condolences to the families of those killed and wishing a full recovery to the injured.

Hans Grundberg, the UN special envoy for Yemen, described strikes on civilian airports in Saudi Arabia as a “grave escalation”, warning that they threatened regional security and complicated efforts to achieve peace.

Malaysia PM Anwar Ibrahim said he unequivocally denounced the attack, which had taken innocent lives and left hundreds injured. He extended condolences to the families of those killed and wished the injured a swift recovery.

“There can be no justification for attacks against civilians and civilian infrastructure,” Anwar said, adding that such attacks could deepen the suffering caused by the conflict and spread it to places that should remain beyond its reach.

Malaysia stood in solidarity with Saudi Arabia and hoped diplomacy and reason would prevail before the conflict widened further, he said. Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif also strongly condemned the attack, calling it a flagrant violation of international law and a threat to regional peace and stability.

Sharif reaffirmed Islamabad’s support for Saudi Arabia’s sovereignty, territorial integrity and security, citing the two countries’ ties and the Makkah Joint Defence Agreement signed in August. The agreement, signed by Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Turkiye on August 7, stipulates that an armed attack against any one of the three countries shall be regarded as an attack against all three.

Qatar’s Foreign Ministry condemned the attack as a grave violation of Saudi Arabia’s sovereignty and a direct threat to regional security, civilian safety and air navigation. It expressed solidarity with Riyadh and said Saudi Arabia’s security was integral to Qatar’s own security and that of the Gulf Cooperation Council states. Palestine’s Foreign Ministry condemned the attack and expressed solidarity with Saudi Arabia. It offered condolences to the families of those killed and wished the injured a speedy recovery.

Egypt also condemned the attacks, describing them as a violation of international law and expressing concern over the threat to civilian safety.

India on Sunday also strongly condemned repeated attacks on Riyadh’s King Khalid International Airport over the past few days, including Saturday’s strike.

“We strongly condemn the repeated attacks on Riyadh’s King Khalid International Airport over the past few days, including the dastardly attack on October 10, which have led to loss of lives, injuries and damage to property,” the Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement.

Describing the attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure as “completely unacceptable”, the ministry said they must cease immediately. It expressed condolences to the families of those killed, wished the injured a speedy recovery and voiced solidarity with the Saudi government and people in defence of the kingdom’s sovereignty.

It also expressed hope that peace and normalcy would return to the region soon.

Saudi authorities said 12 people were killed and 309 injured in Saturday’s attack, some of them critically.

The dead included four Saudi citizens, two Bangladeshi nationals and one citizen each of the US, Egypt, Jordan, Palestine, Syria and Sudan.

The Saudi-led coalition fighting the Houthis blamed the rebels for the attack, describing it as a war crime and vowing a firm response.

On Sunday, the Houthis renewed their warning to airlines, airport workers and travellers against using Saudi airports, saying the warning should be taken seriously and that Saudi Arabia bore responsibility for what they described as failed interceptions.

Saudi civil aviation authorities suspended airport operations following the attack, while flights were diverted. Several countries also warned their citizens to avoid the facility.