US orders some diplomats, families to leave Saudi Arabia amid Houthi attacks
The US State Department said the Houthis had increasingly targeted Saudi Arabia, including civilian airports and critical infrastructure, causing casualties and severe travel disruptions.
The US State Department has ordered non-emergency government employees and their family members to leave Saudi Arabia amid escalating attacks by Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi rebels, following deadly strikes on an airport and an oil facility, reports BBC.
Yesterday (21 October), one person was killed and eight others injured in an attack on King Fahd International Airport in Dammam, eastern Saudi Arabia, while debris from an intercepted drone targeting an Aramco-operated oilfield killed two people and injured two others, according to Saudi authorities.
The US State Department said the Houthis had increasingly targeted Saudi Arabia, including civilian airports and critical infrastructure, causing casualties and severe travel disruptions.
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"The hostilities have the potential to escalate rapidly," the department warned.
The latest attacks come amid a renewed escalation in fighting between Saudi Arabia and the Houthis. The group has launched missiles and drones at airports, energy facilities and military installations in the kingdom.
The Houthis have also repeatedly targeted King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh. A recent strike on the facility was reported to be the deadliest attack in Saudi Arabia in years.
Saudi authorities have not identified who launched the drone targeting the Shaybah oilfield near the border with the United Arab Emirates.
The conflict is part of Yemen's civil war, which began in 2014 when the Houthis seized the capital, Sanaa, and ousted the internationally recognised government. Fighting intensified in 2015 after a Saudi-led military coalition intervened in support of the government.
A four-year period of relative calm ended in July, when hostilities resumed, and the Houthis stepped up attacks on Saudi targets.
The Houthis have said their actions are retaliation for what they describe as a Saudi blockade of their territory and Saudi air strikes, including an attack on Sanaa airport.
The renewed conflict has heightened concerns over regional security and global energy supplies. Saudi Arabia has increasingly relied on the Red Sea for oil exports after the US-Israeli war with Iran disrupted shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.
The Houthis' activities around the Bab al-Mandeb Strait, off Yemen's southwestern coast, have added to concerns over disruptions to international maritime trade.
