Cairo, Oct 11: Saudi Arabia on Sunday kept its main international airport closed and moved Riyadh schools online as Yemen’s Houthi rebels threatened new strikes across the kingdom, a day after a missile attack killed 12 people and wounded more than 300.

Saturday’s strike on King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh marked a major escalation in the war between Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis and the kingdom and further complicated sputtering efforts to halt the US-Iran war. US President Donald Trump said he was considering whether to join Saudi strikes against the rebels, a scenario that could prompt the Houthis to halt shipping through a crucial waterway and further restrict the flow of oil out of the Persian Gulf.

Later Sunday, the Houthi-run health ministry reported that a child was killed and six people wounded in a suspected Saudi airstrike on a house in the Yemeni capital, Sanaa. There was no immediate comment from Saudi authorities.

The ministry says 91 Yemenis have been killed and 168 injured by the Saudi-led coalition in five weeks. It said that 60 per cent of those killed were women and children.

Riyadh shutters airport, schools as Houthis threaten more strikes

The kingdom said Sunday that schools in the capital would hold classes online until the end of the week. Meanwhile, authorities extended an ongoing airport closure until at least 9 pm Sunday, according to Flightradar24.

While the Houthis did not immediately claim responsibility for Saturday’s attack, they have acknowledged targeting Saudi airports and oil installations in the past.

Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree, the group’s military spokesperson, warned: “all airlines, experts, employees, workers and travellers against using Saudi airports and airspace, as they are vulnerable to attack and have become a theatre of operations for our forces.” He wrote on X that airports in the holy cities of Mecca and Medina were exempt.

The latest attack on the Saudi airport drew condemnations from Arab countries, including Iraq, Lebanon and Syria, as well as UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.

“Attacks by Iran’s proxies are pushing the region into a spiral of violence,” von der Leyen wrote Sunday on X. “They are destabilising crucial global transport and energy nodes.”

Details surface about airport fatalities

The attack struck an airport complex housing terminals 3 and 4 for domestic flights, a regional official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorised to speak to the media.

A Saudi statement said the dead included four Saudi citizens, two Bangladeshi nationals, a Palestinian, a US citizen, an Egyptian, a Jordanian, a Syrian and a Sudanese. It said several hospitals were treating the injured.

The Egyptian woman was a flight attendant identified as Azza Ramzy, 28, who worked for the Saudi airline Flynas, according to the Egyptian state-run TV.

The Syrian woman was a widowed mother of four who had been living in Saudi Arabia for five years, a relative told The Associated Press. The Syrian Embassy in Riyadh identified her as Buthaina Ahmad Oweida.

Her niece, Nisreen Oweida, said her aunt was 56 years old, from Syria’s northern Idlib province, and had left during the country’s civil war. She was living in Mecca and had been returning from a visit to her sister in Riyadh when she was killed in the attack on the airport, her niece said.

Trump said he would consider joining strikes against rebels

The attack is expected to increase Saudi pressure on allies, including the United States, to provide military support for the kingdom.

Shortly after the attack, Trump said he was evaluating whether the US should join Saudi strikes against the rebels. “We’re going to look at it,” he said. “We just found out about the recent attack. So we’ll make a decision. We move very quickly.”

Trump said later Saturday he planned to speak with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Asked if the US might get involved, Trump responded, “We’ll find out.”

A US attack would deepen American involvement in an unpopular regional war that has threatened Trump’s Republican party in upcoming American midterm elections. Both Trump and Iran insist the American election calendar has no effect on their decisions on how to end the seven-month-old conflict.

The Houthis claimed attacks earlier in the week on King Khalid International Airport that killed three Saudis, including a pilot. The airport has no military facilities.

The surge in attacks, including against other Saudi airports, military facilities and oil infrastructure, has come in the week since a Saudi-led coalition launched a major military offensive against the Houthis.

Iran can use Houthis to pressure a key US ally

The latest fighting between Saudi Arabia and the Houthis comes as negotiations between Iran and the US aimed at ending their war appear to be at a standstill.

Until recently, the Houthis had been largely on the sidelines of the Iran war. Now, the rebels are helping Iran to pressure a key US ally. Houthi attacks, along with their control of the Bab el-Mandeb waterway, also threaten to add new disruptions to the flow of oil from the region.

The Saudis and the Houthis began fighting in 2015, when the kingdom entered Yemen’s civil war on behalf of the internationally recognised government.

Relative calm after a 2022 ceasefire ended in July, when the Houthis resumed attacks, saying the Saudis fired on the Sanaa airport as a plane from Iran was trying to land. That revived anger over the Saudi-led blockade that has largely isolated Houthi-run areas.

Now, fighting has escalated, with the Saudi-led coalition providing air support for Yemeni government forces attempting to reverse recent Houthi gains along the Red Sea. Those gains gave the rebels better surveillance of shipping through the Bab el-Mandeb, a corridor that is a crucial alternative to the Strait of Hormuz, where Iran has been attacking ships.

Saudi Arabia is running low on missile interceptors and has asked France, Britain, Pakistan and Egypt to deploy air defence support to the region, regional officials told The Associated Press last month, with one noting that the US has seen its own stock dwindle during the war with Iran.

But Ahmed Nagi, the International Crisis Group’s senior analyst for Yemen, said the Houthi pressure tactics could backfire. “Rather than pushing Riyadh to step back, attacks on critical Saudi infrastructure could make the Saudis more determined to continue the campaign,” he said.

Cairo, Oct 11: Saudi Arabia on Sunday extended the closure of its main international airport as Houthi rebels threatened airstrikes across the kingdom, a day after a missile attack killed 12 people and wounded more than 300.

Saturday’s strike on the Riyadh airport marked a major escalation of the war between Yemen’s Iran’s-backed Houthis and the kingdom. President Donald Trump said he was considering whether to join Saudi strikes against the rebels, a scenario that could prompt the Houthis to halt shipping through a crucial waterway and further restrict the flow of oil out of the Persian Gulf.

As international leaders spoke out condemning the attack Sunday, the Houthis reported that two airstrikes hit Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, blaming Saudi Arabia. There was no immediate comment from Saudi authorities or reports of casualties.

The Houthi-run Health Ministry says 91 Yemenis have been killed and 168 injured by the Saudi-led coalition in five weeks. It said that 60 per cent of those killed were women and children.

Houthis renew threats to Saudi Arabia

As Saudi authorities extended Saturday’s airport closure until at least 9 pm Sunday, according to Flightradar24, the Houthis said the kingdom’s airports were attack targets.

Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree, the group’s military spokesman, urged “everyone to take our warnings seriously.”

The latest attack on the Saudi airport drew condemnations from Arab countries, including Iraq, Lebanon and Syria, as well as UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.

“Attacks by Iran’s proxies are pushing the region into a spiral of violence,” Von der Leyen wrote Sunday on X. “They are destabilising crucial global transport and energy nodes.”

Attack killed people of different nationalities

The attack struck an airport complex housing terminals 3 and 4 for domestic flights, a regional official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorised to speak to the media.

The Saudi statement said the dead included four Saudi citizens, two Bangladeshi nationals, a Palestinian, a US citizen, an Egyptian, a Jordanian, a Syrian and a Sudanese. It said several hospitals were treating the injured.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio acknowledged in a social media post that an American citizen had been killed in the attack, which he condemned.

The Egyptian woman was a flight attendant identified as Azza Ramzy, 28, who worked for the Saudi airline Flybas, according to the Egyptian state-run Al-Qahera New television.

Trump said he would consider joining strikes against rebels

The attack is expected to increase Saudi pressure on allies, including the United States, to provide military support for the kingdom.

Shortly after the attack, Trump said he was evaluating whether the US should join Saudi strikes against the rebels. “We may. We’re going to look at it,” he said. “We just found out about the recent attack. So we’ll make a decision. We move very quickly.”

Trump said later Saturday he planned to speak with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Asked if the US might get involved, Trump responded, “We’ll find out.”

The Houthis claimed attacks earlier in the week on King Khalid International Airport that killed three Saudis, including a pilot. The airport has no military facilities.

The surge in attacks, including against other Saudi airports, military facilities and oil infrastructure, has come in the week since a Saudi-led coalition launched a major military offensive against the Houthis.

Iran can use Houthis to pressure key US ally

Until recently, the Houthis had been largely on the sidelines of the Iran war. Now, the rebels are a way for Tehran to pressure a key US ally. Houthi attacks, along with their control of the Bab el-Mandeb waterway, also threaten to add new disruptions to the flow of oil from the region.

The Saudis and the Houthis began fighting in 2015 when the kingdom entered Yemen’s civil war on behalf of the internationally recognised government.

Relative calm after a 2022 ceasefire ended in July when the Houthis resumed attacks, saying the Saudis fired on the Sanaa airport as a plane from Iran was trying to land. That revived anger over the Saudi-led blockade that has largely isolated Houthi-run areas.

Now fighting has escalated, with the Saudi-led coalition providing air support for Yemeni government forces attempting to reverse recent Houthi gains along the Red Sea. Those gains gave the rebels better surveillance of shipping on the Bab el-Mandeb, a corridor that is a crucial alternative to the Strait of Hormuz, where Iran has been attacking ships.

Saudi Arabia is running low on missile interceptors and has asked France, Britain, Pakistan and Egypt to deploy air defence support to the region, regional officials told The Associated Press last month, with one noting that the US has seen its own stock dwindle during the war with Iran.

Islamabad, Oct 11: Pakistan on Sunday declared an emergency in the northwest Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province over the deteriorating law and order situation, bringing the provincial government led by jailed former prime minister Imran Khan’s party to an end.

An emergency allows Pakistan’s federal government to assume key executive and legislative powers in a province during a security crisis or breakdown of constitutional governance.

President Asif Ali Zardari issued a proclamation under Articles 232(1) and 234(1) of the Constitution, citing rising terrorist attacks and a breakdown of constitutional machinery in the northwestern province, according to the presidential declaration. Under the proclamation, the chief minister, provincial ministers, advisers, special assistants and advocate general will immediately vacate their offices.

The move comes amid an ongoing protest march led by Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) Chief Minister Sohail Afridi, who is pressing for Imran Khan’s release and access to medical treatment for him. The march began in Lakki Marwat on October 4 and has passed through several districts of the province.

Afridi on Saturday vowed to continue peaceful protests and rejected military operations as a solution to the province’s problems. The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf party had initially planned to take the march to Islamabad for a sit-in, but the federal government said it would not allow protesters to enter the capital.

The presidential declaration on Sunday said the emergency was imposed in view of rising terrorist incidents and the grave law and order situation in the province.

“The extraordinary intensity of terrorist incidents poses serious threats to the lives and property of the public,” the declaration stated.

It cited an increase in attacks on government installations, infrastructure and law enforcement agencies, accusing the provincial government of failing to demonstrate the resolve and take the measures needed to curb terrorism and lawlessness.

The declaration said a report by the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa governor had highlighted a breakdown of constitutional machinery and the provincial government’s inability to function in accordance with the Constitution.

Under the proclamation, the federal government may direct the provincial governor to assume all or some functions of the provincial government. The governor may also exercise powers of other provincial institutions and officials, including those of the Provincial Assembly, as directed by the federal government.

The powers of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly will be exercised by Parliament or under its authority, according to the declaration, which took effect immediately.

The federal cabinet endorsed the emergency proposal earlier on Sunday after a special meeting chaired by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to review the worsening security situation.

The cabinet said the provincial government had deliberately disengaged from the fight against terrorism and recommended that the prime minister advise the president to impose an emergency.

“The Cabinet recommended that the Prime Minister advise the President to exercise his constitutional authority and impose an emergency in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa under Articles 232 and 234 of the Constitution of Pakistan, given the gravity of the situation,” an official statement said.

Sources said the cabinet decided to pursue the move after exploring other options, including a last-ditch effort to engage the provincial government through mediation by Maulana Fazlur Rehman, chief of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F). The efforts failed to yield a breakthrough, they said.

Earlier, Sharif told the cabinet that the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government was not doing enough to tackle terrorism and called for decisive action.

“The KP government is not saying a word against militancy… It is time to take a decision as we have reached a moment of now or never,” he said.

Sharif said the law and order situation was deteriorating and accused the provincial government led by Khan’s party of failing to address the threat. He added that the federal government had provided at least PKR 800 billion to the province over the past 10 years to fight terrorism and improve security, but the situation had not improved.

The party’s key demands include an immediate meeting with Khan, access for his personal doctors, the release of his sisters and supporters arrested ahead of the protest, a proper medical check-up for his wife, Bushra Bibi, and hearings in their cases without interference.

Khan, the 73-year-old former cricketer-turned-politician, has been incarcerated at Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi since 2023 and faces more than 100 cases, including corruption and charges related to inciting violence.

The long march followed the failure of two rounds of talks between Khan’s party and the federal government. The discussions broke down over the party’s demand for access to Khan before calling off the protest, while the government insisted that the demonstration be ended first.

The federal government had warned that protesters would not be allowed to enter Islamabad, where security was tightened and roads along the planned route blocked with shipping containers.