Aramco evacuates staff as Saudi Arabia braces for potential Houthi escalation: What to know
Saudi Arabia's General Authority of Civil Aviation said two people, including an Indian national, were killed and eight injured in an attack on King Fahd International Airport in Dammam, blamed on Yemen's Houthi group; operations resumed and air traffic returned to normal the following day. Saudi air defenses intercepted a Houthi drone aimed at a facility at Aramco's Shaybah oil field, and falling debris killed two people, a Filipino and a Nepali, according to the Ministry of Energy. Aramco ordered the evacuation of staff from its headquarters, and the United States asked non-essential government employees and their families to leave the kingdom.
Why it matters: The strikes on Saudi energy and aviation infrastructure, followed by the US ordered departure, indicate how the Houthi campaign is testing Gulf security arrangements and the resilience of oil production and export logistics.