Developing: US orders non-emergency staff out of Saudi Arabia after deaths
Non-emergency government employees and their families must leave as Washington warns that Houthi hostilities could escalate rapidly. Saudi authorities reported deaths at Dammam airport and from intercepted-drone debris at the Shaybah oil field, but have not established who launched those attacks.
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by Sami Haddad
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The United States has ordered non-emergency government staff and their families out of Saudi Arabia as attacks on an airport and an oil field killed three people, according to Saudi authorities.
State Department spokesperson Tommy Pigott confirmed the departure order and said it applied only to Saudi Arabia. He said Houthi hostilities increasingly involved civilian airports and critical infrastructure, causing civilian casualties and severe travel disruption, and warned that the fighting could escalate rapidly.
The withdrawal raises the diplomatic stakes in a conflict that has already reached Saudi Arabia's capital and the seat of Yemen's internationally recognised government. The latest deaths were reported in the kingdom's east, at King Fahd International Airport in Dammam and the Shaybah oil field near the United Arab Emirates border.
Saudi Arabia's Civil Aviation Authority said the October 21 attack at King Fahd airport killed one person, injured eight and caused material damage. The authority was still assessing the damage. At Shaybah, the Energy Ministry said falling debris from an intercepted drone killed two people and injured two during an attempted attack on the field.
Responsibility for these latest incidents has not been established. The Houthis had not commented on the Dammam attack, and the Energy Ministry did not identify who launched the drone near Shaybah. The weapon used at the airport and any effect on oil operations have not been established.
