US Orders Diplomats Out of Saudi Arabia After Deadly Houthi Attacks

The withdrawal follows weeks of attacks on Saudi Arabia's aviation and energy sectors by the Iran-backed Houthis, according to The New York Times. The latest strikes hit a civilian airport and an oilfield, killing civilians at both sites.

The US State Department said the Houthis had increasingly engaged in hostilities against Saudi Arabia, Al Jazeera reported on October 21. That threat prompted Washington to order some personnel out of the kingdom.

On October 21, an attack on King Fahd International Airport in Dammam killed one resident and injured eight others, according to the initial statement from Saudi Arabia's General Authority of Civil Aviation reported by NDTV. The authority was assessing material damage.

A separate incident that Wednesday struck near Saudi Aramco's Shaybah oilfield. A Filipino and a Nepali national died after debris from a drone intercepted by Saudi air defenses fell nearby, according to philstar.com. Business Line also reported that an Indian national was injured.

That day, the State Department ordered nonessential embassy personnel and their families to leave Saudi Arabia, ABC reported. US officials also described plans to withdraw family members from other missions in the region, according to the South China Morning Post.

By October 22, the airport death toll had risen to two, with eight people injured, CNN Brasil reported, citing the Saudi aviation authority. The BBC reported that an Indian national was among those killed. These later reports update the initial account of one death at the airport.

The security response widened on October 22. Saudi Aramco told staff to evacuate its Dhahran headquarters, Middle East Eye reported, citing six people with knowledge of the matter. Staff were instructed to work remotely, according to Times Now.

The US departure order covers nonemergency personnel and their families, rather than all diplomatic staff, according to Bloomberg. Reports describing some diplomats leaving should not be read as confirmation that every US mission in Saudi Arabia has closed.

The regional scope is less settled. The Guardian reported similar withdrawals in the UAE, Jordan, Qatar and Bahrain, while the South China Morning Post described planned family departures from other regional missions. The coverage does not establish a single confirmed timetable for those moves.

Later airport reporting puts the death toll there at two, alongside two reported deaths near the oilfield. The earlier combined figure of three deaths in Bloomberg predates the reported increase in the airport toll.

Saudi aviation authorities have said further updates will follow, according to Al Jazeera. Those updates should help establish the latest casualty figures and the extent of damage at King Fahd airport.

Further US announcements could clarify which other missions will lose personnel or family members, and when. The Indian Embassy in Riyadh was also awaiting details from Saudi authorities about the oilfield incident, Business Line reported.