US orders nonemergency diplomats to leave Saudi Arabia as Houthi attacks escalate
The State Department ordered nonemergency US government employees and their families to leave Saudi Arabia after a series of Houthi attacks on Saudi airports and energy sites. A strike on King Fahd International Airport in Dammam on Wednesday killed at least one person and injured eight, Saudi authorities said.
The US State Department has ordered nonemergency US government employees and their family members to leave Saudi Arabia, citing escalating attacks by Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi rebels on civilian airports and other infrastructure, AP, The Washington Post and DW reported.
State Department spokesperson Tommy Pigott said the order applies to Saudi Arabia only.
Saudi authorities said an attack on King Fahd International Airport in Dammam on Wednesday killed at least one person and injured eight; some reports put the death toll at two. Separately, Saudi officials said debris from an intercepted drone killed two people at Saudi Aramco's Shaybah oil field.
Update, Friday morning: The Saudi-led coalition said its air defenses intercepted and destroyed a Houthi ballistic missile fired toward Riyadh shortly after 4 a.m. local time on Friday, and two drones aimed at Saudi Arabia's southern region about three hours earlier, according to coalition spokesman Maj. Gen. Turki Al-Maliki, as reported by Arab News and Dawn. Arab News, citing coalition and Saudi government figures, reported that Houthi attacks on the kingdom this month have killed 24 people and injured at least 374.
Written by Serious Business Staff from the reporting and documents above. All reporting credit belongs to those sources.
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