ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq – A deadly attack targeting Riyadh’s international airport killed 12 people and injured more than 300, Saudi Arabia’s General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA) announced on Sunday, with a Saudi-led coalition vowing to “respond decisively” to the attack, which it blamed on Yemen’s Houthi rebels.

In a statement, GACA reported that a “brutal attack” targeting the airport on Saturday “resulted in the deaths of 12 individuals,” including four citizens and residents of the following nationalities: two Bangladeshi, one American, one Egyptian, one Jordanian, one Syrian, one Palestinian, and one Sudanese.

“The attack also left 309 others injured—including some in critical condition—who are currently receiving the necessary medical care in various hospitals,” the statement added.

The Iran-backed Houthis have not claimed responsibility for the Saturday attack. However, Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree said the rebels had targeted the King Khalid and Najran airports on Thursday in a similar offensive.

The Thursday strikes resulted in the deaths of three individuals, according to GACA.

The attack is considered to have been the deadliest in the country in more than a decade.

Spokesperson for the Saudi-led coalition Turki al-Maliki blamed the attack on the Houthis in a statement, dubbing it a “full-fledged war crime.”

“The Joint Forces Command of the Coalition will respond decisively to this terrorist attack,” Maliki stressed.

The attack came amid a counter-offensive launched by the Saudi-backed Yemeni government, seeking to dislodge the rebels from the coastline along the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, from where the Houthis have sought to impose a maritime blockade on Saudi maritime traffic through the Red Sea.

The conflict between Riyadh and the Houthis had lain largely dormant since a UN-brokered ceasefire in 2022. However, the latter group blamed Saudi Arabia for an airstrike on Sanaa International Airport in July, setting in motion a chain of events that culminated in a large-scale Houthi offensive that expanded their effective control over war-wracked Yemen.

In response to the conflict's escalation, Saudi Arabia activated the Mecca Joint Defense Agreement it signed earlier this year with Turkey and Pakistan, though Ankara has ruled out any participation in offensive operations in Yemen, limiting its troop deployments to defensive operations in Saudi Arabia itself, and Islamabad has vehemently denied reports that its aircraft are conducting airstrikes on Houthi positions.