US orders staff out of Saudi Arabia as Houthi attack hits Dammam airport
One person was killed and eight hurt at King Fahd International Airport, hours after Washington ordered non-emergency staff and families to leave.
The US State Department on Wednesday ordered non-emergency government employees and their families to leave its mission in Saudi Arabia, citing a growing number of attacks on the kingdom by Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthi movement. Spokesperson Tommy Pigott said the Houthis had increasingly targeted civilian airports and other critical infrastructure, causing civilian casualties and severe travel disruption.
Later the same day, one person was killed and eight were injured in an attack on King Fahd International Airport in the eastern city of Dammam, Saudi Arabia's civil aviation authority said. The wounded, whose injuries ranged from minor to critical, were taken to hospital. Earlier, the energy ministry said two people died when air defences intercepted a drone aimed at a facility at Saudi Aramco's Shaybah oilfield.
The strikes are the latest in a series on Saudi airports. An attack on Riyadh's King Khalid International Airport on 10 October killed 12 people and injured more than 300, and another strike there a day later killed one person. Four US officials told Reuters that family members would also be ordered to leave other US missions in the Gulf.
The fighting in Yemen has opened a new front in the regional conflict that followed the US-Israeli war on Iran, which began in late February and has disrupted global energy trade. Oil prices rose after the US announcement.