Evacuations Ordered Amid Houthi Attacks in Saudi Arabia
The U.S. State Department has instructed certain diplomatic personnel, along with their families, to leave their posts in Saudi Arabia due to ongoing assaults from Iran-aligned Houthi militants based in Yemen.
In related news, Saudi Arabia’s state oil company, Aramco, has also evacuated staff from its headquarters in Dhahran following these Houthi attacks.
The Houthis conducted an attack on King Fahd International Airport in Dammam on Wednesday evening, which resulted in two fatalities and eight injuries. This was just the latest in a series of strikes using drones and missiles aimed at civilian airports in Saudi Arabia.
Dammam lies about ten miles from Aramco’s headquarters. Last week, the Houthis inflicted significant damage to the Aramco building in a missile attack. Although the building remained operational and some employees continued working, “nonessential” staff were advised to stay home.
According to reports from Aramco sources on Thursday, all remaining personnel at the Dhahran headquarters have since been instructed to work from home until further notice.
“There was an evacuation order issued for these staff; no specific reason was given,” mentioned one source.
Despite the evacuation order concerning Aramco, AFP reported that the surrounding residential areas haven’t been locked down or evacuated yet. The evacuation was highlighted just hours after the Houthi strike in Dammam.
On the same day, Saudi military officials claimed to have intercepted four Houthi drones near the holy cities of Mecca and Medina. The Houthis have received considerable condemnation but, so far, there hasn’t been any decisive action from the Muslim community since they threatened Mecca with a drone back in September.
State Department spokesperson Tommy Pigott confirmed on Wednesday the mandatory exit order for “non-emergency U.S. government employees and their family members” from Saudi Arabia, but he refuted claims that personnel in other Middle Eastern nations have also been ordered to evacuate in anticipation of possible large-scale military actions.
“Iranian-supported Houthis have increasingly engaged in hostilities against Saudi Arabia, including attacks on civilian airports and other critical infrastructure, which have resulted in civilian casualties and severe travel disruptions,” Pigott added.
Chatham House research fellow Farea al-Muslimi shared with Fox News Digital that Saudi Arabia is struggling to conduct a purely defensive war against Houthi attacks due to the vast territory it needs to protect and the numerous civilian targets available to the Houthis. He emphasized that the geographical size contributes to the challenge.
“Saudi Arabia is a huge geography to protect, and this illustrates a larger global issue: even a smaller nonstate actor can present a significant threat to a sophisticated and well-funded military force. The Houthis can impose high costs with minimal investment,” he stated.
In terms of financial repercussions, the ongoing Houthi assaults are impacting the markets significantly. On Thursday, Aramco shares fell by 0.7 percent, the Saudi National Bank dropped by 5.1 percent, while the Saudi benchmark stock index decreased by 2.3 percent—this being its largest drop in over two years, and part of the eighth-largest weekly decline recorded in its history.
The instability also affected the United Arab Emirates, with main market indexes in Dubai and Abu Dhabi both registering losses of 0.7 percent.
