The third attack this week on Riyadh’s international airport on Saturday left at least 12 people dead and ​more than 300 wounded, Saudi authorities said, as Iran-backed Houthis escalated the campaign they launched this summer against the kingdom, Reuters reported.

The dead included four Saudis, two ‌people from Bangladesh and one person each from the US, Jordan, Palestine, Syria, Sudan and Egypt, the Saudi civil aviation authority said. At the latest count, officials said, 309 were wounded.

Hospitals were flooded with wounded brought by ambulance and helicopter, people briefed on the matter said. Some were in critical condition.

Saturday’s attack, the deadliest in the kingdom in more than a decade, occurred without warning, with no alert issued by Saudi ​Arabia’s threat warning system. This week’s two previous attacks on King Khalid International Airport left four people dead and caused heavy damage to a Saudi commercial plane ​parked on the tarmac.

The deadly strikes exposed vulnerabilities in the kingdom’s defence capabilities as it wages an air campaign against the Houthis to ⁠support a ground war by the Yemeni government against the Iran-backed group.

Hospitals were flooded with wounded brought by ambulance and helicopter, people briefed on the matter said. Some were in critical condition.

Saturday’s attack, the deadliest in the kingdom in more than a decade, occurred without warning, with no alert issued by Saudi ​Arabia’s threat warning system. This week’s two previous attacks on King Khalid International Airport left four people dead and caused heavy damage to a Saudi commercial plane ​parked on the tarmac.

The deadly strikes exposed vulnerabilities in the kingdom’s defence capabilities as it wages an air campaign against the Houthis to ⁠support a ground war by the Yemeni government against the Iran-backed group.

US President Donald Trump, speaking to reporters outside the White House, was asked whether Washington planned to join Saudi strikes on the Houthis, read the report.

“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 said.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio condemned the attacks, saying ‌they “demonstrate a ⁠blatant disregard for innocent civilian life.”

One eyewitness at the airport on Saturday reported seeing an explosion and then multiple people lying injured on the ground inside. More than a dozen ambulances were seen rushing towards the facility. A video verified by Reuters showed ambulances at the airport.

An injured traveller told Reuters they saw something fly across the sky outside the airport before part of the ceiling near a departure gate collapsed.

The US embassy in Riyadh said it was “aware of attacks” and “strongly recommends all US citizens avoid this ​airport and surrounding areas.”

Saudi Arabia entered the Yemen ​war in 2015 at the head ⁠of an Arab coalition to try to force the Houthis out of the Yemeni capital Sanaa. The Houthis had stormed Sanaa the previous year, pushing out government forces, Reuters reported.

The war was fought to a bloody stalemate, with hundreds of thousands of Yemenis killed by fighting and famine. ​Saudi Arabia struck a 2022 deal with the Houthis, freezing the conflict.

That ceasefire unravelled over the summer, culminating in a lightning Houthi ​advance that took the ⁠Red Sea chokepoint of Bab el-Mandeb from Saudi-backed government forces.

The Saudi-backed Yemeni government began an offensive this week to try to retake that territory, which has so far made slow gains, even as the Houthis put the country’s third-largest city, Taiz, under siege.

Flight-tracking site flightradar24 showed all flights to Riyadh had either been diverted or cancelled, with only a ⁠helicopter hovering over ​the airport at one point.

Houthi attacks on Thursday and earlier in the week had already prompted a number ​of carriers to suspend or cancel services to the Saudi capital, shortly before Riyadh is due to host major energy and investment conferences.

Organizers of those conferences said ahead of the strikes on Saturday they would go ahead as ​planned.

د اسلامي امارت د اوبو او انرژۍ وزیر محمد یونس آخوندزاده نن(شنبه د تلې اته‌لسمه) د سعودي عربستان پلازمېنې ریاض ته د نړیوالې انرژۍ په اوولسمه غونډه کې د ګډون لپاره ولاړ.

ټاکل شوې، چې د شاوخوا ۱۰۰ هېوادونو د وزیرانو پر کچه استازي په دې غونډه کې ګډون وکړي او د انرژۍ په برخه کې د همکاریو، فرصتونو او تجربو د تبادلې په اړه خبرې وکړي.

د اوبو او انرژۍ وزارت ویلي، چې په دې غونډه کې د افغانستان ګډون له نړۍوالو هېوادونو سره د اړیکو پراختیا، د تجربو تبادلې او د انرژۍ په برخه کې د نړۍوالو همکاریو د جلبولو لپاره ښه فرصت برابروي.

د مخابراتو او معلوماتي ټکنالوژۍ وزارت مالي او اداري مرستیال محمد امین جان عمري پر مشرۍ د اسلامي امارت یو پلاوی په دوه‌یمه نړیواله ډیجیټلي غونډه کې د ګډون لپاره د روسیې پلازمېنې مسکو ته تللی دی.

د ډیجیټلي حکومتولۍ عمومي ریاست رییس عبدالرحمن ساپی هم د دې پلاوي غړی دی.

ټاکل شوې، چې د بېلابېلو هېوادونو د دولتي ادارو استازي، د نړیوالو ټولنو استازي، د معلوماتي ټکنالوژۍ برخې څانګوال(متخصصان) او د خصوصي سکټور استازي په دې غونډه کې ګډون وکړي.

په غونډه کې به د ډیجیټلي ټکنالوژۍ پراختیا، ډیجیټلي حکومتولي، مصنوعي ځیرکتیا، سایبري امنیت، ډیجیټلي بېخبناوو او د هېوادونو ترمنځ د ټکنالوژۍ په برخه کې د همکاریو د پراختیا په اړه خبرې او د نظرونو تبادله وشي.

د افغانستان د مخابراتو او معلوماتي ټکنالوژۍ وزارت پلاوی به په دې غونډه کې د مخابراتو او معلوماتي ټکنالوژۍ په برخه کې د افغانستان د تجربو او لاسته راوړنو او د ډیجیټلي بدلون په برخه کې د ترسره شویو هڅو په اړه معلومات وړاندې کړي.

همدارنګه، ټاکل شوې د افغانستان پلاوی د غونډې په څنډه کې د بېلابېلو هېوادونو له استازو او د معلوماتي ټکنالوژۍ له اړوند ادارو سره دوه‌اړخیزې لیدنې ولري او د همکاریو د پراختیا په اړه خبرې وکړي.

دوه‌یمه نړیواله ډیجیټلي غونډه نن(پنجشنبه) په مسکو ښار کې پیلیږي او درې ورځې به روانه وي.

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