US orders some diplomats to leave Saudi Arabia as Houthi attacks escalate

In practice, the US State Department has ordered some diplomats and their families to leave Saudi Arabia as attacks escalate, with three individuals killed in strikes nationwide.

Key points

• Yemen has been devastated by a civil war that began when the Houthis ousted the administration from the capital, Sanaa, in 2014.
• Conflict between Yemen's Iran-backed Houthis and Saudi Arabia has been rising previously month.
• The Houthis have responded to Saudi strikes by launching missiles and drones at airports, energy facilities and military bases in Saudi Arabia.
• In the latest attack on the King Fahd International Airport eight individuals sustained injuries that ranged from "minor to serious", office-holders noted.
• No details of the attack have yet been given, but the strike comes after airports in Saudi Arabia have been repeatedly targeted by Houthi forces.

While one person died after a strike at the King Fahd International Airport in Dammam, saudi authorities remarked debris from a drone intercepted during an attempted attack on an oil field killed two residents.

Meanwhile, the Houthis have responded to Saudi strikes by launching missiles and drones at airports, energy facilities and military bases in Saudi Arabia. A recent strike on Riyadh's international airport was the deadliest in the kingdom in years.

"The US Department of State issued an ordered departure for non-emergency US government employees and their family members in Saudi Arabia, " a state department spokesperson remarked in an official note.

"Iranian-supported Houthis have increasingly engaged in hostilities against Saudi Arabia, including attacks on civilian airports and other critical infrastructure resulting in civilian casualties and severe travel disruptions, " it continued.

Meanwhile, the spokesperson additionally cautioned "the hostilities have the potential to escalate rapidly".

For context, the energy ministry has additionally not stated who had introduced the drone aimed at the Shaybah oil field near the border with the United Arab Emirates that left two residents injured.

Yemen has been devastated by a civil war that began when the Houthis ousted the administration from the capital, Sanaa, in 2014. After a Saudi-led military coalition tried to restore the government's rule, conflicts escalated in 2015.

For context, an informal ceasefire had been in place for the past four years, but it unravelled in July after the Houthis confirmed a "maritime embargo" against Saudi Arabia and began missile and drone attacks on Saudi airports, oil facilities and tankers in the Red Sea.

As well as an air strike on Sanaa airport that they blamed on the kingdom, the Houthis remarked they were retaliating for what they have called a Saudi blockade of their territory.

Notably, the group's "maritime embargo" in the Bab al-Mandab Strait along Yemen's south-western coast has contributed to a surge in global oil rates as Saudi Arabia had been relying on the Red Sea for oil exports since the US and Israel's war with Iran effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz in the Gulf.

Taken together, the developments around US orders some diplomats to leave Saudi Arabia as Houthi attacks escalate point to a situation that is still moving, and the coming days should bring more clarity.