The United States ordered non-essential government employees and their families to leave Saudi Arabia on Wednesday, citing intensifying attacks by Yemen’s Houthis. The strikes on “civilian airports and other critical infrastructure” have caused casualties and severe disruptions to travel, State Department spokesman Tommy Pigott wrote in a post on his X account. The Iran-backed terrorist organization is escalating attacks against the kingdom, he said.
1+Pigott’s post came in response to a Reuters report that Washington was preparing to order the departure of some embassy staff and family members across the Gulf. “This is not accurate,” Pigott wrote, clarifying that the order applies “to Saudi Arabia only.” The spokesman added that the safety of department personnel and their families “remains the top priority.”
The embassy in Riyadh issued a simultaneous security alert warning that hostilities “could escalate rapidly” beyond the combat zone. According to the notice, U.S. government employees need special advance approval from the chief of mission to use any airport in the kingdom. King Khalid Airport in the capital remains closed, while flights continue with delays in Jeddah and Dammam.
A Saudi citizen and an Indian resident were killed in last night’s attack on King Fahd Airport in Dammam, and eight others were wounded, according to the kingdom’s civil aviation authority, the BBC reported. Earlier, a drone aimed at an Aramco facility—the state oil company—at the Shaybah field was intercepted, and two residents from the Philippines and Nepal were killed by shrapnel.
1+At least 21 people have been killed in the organization’s attacks on airports in the kingdom since early October, according to authorities in Riyadh. The deadliest was a missile strike on the capital’s airport on October 10, which killed 13 and wounded 308. The rebels did not immediately respond, but have previously portrayed the attacks as retaliation for Saudi airstrikes on their territory.