Washington orders U.S. embassy staff, families to leave Saudi Arabia
Move comes amid sustained attacks by Yemen's Houthis
The U.S. State Department ordered non-essential embassy staff and their families to leave Saudi Arabia on Wednesday. State Department spokesperson Tommy Pigott stated the decision was made due to increasing hostilities by Iranian-supported Houthis against Saudi Arabia, including attacks on civilian airports and critical infrastructure.
While a diplomatic source told AFP that some families of U.S. personnel are also being withdrawn in Jordan, Bahrain, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates, Pigott specified that Wednesday's order applies only to non-emergency staff and families in Saudi Arabia.
The order comes amid intensified attacks by the Yemeni rebels. According to DW English (Top Stories), a strike on King Fahd International Airport in Dammam on Wednesday evening killed one person and injured eight others, with the Saudi Civil Aviation Authority assessing material damage to the site. Flightradar24 reported that flights were being diverted as operations at the airport halted.
Additionally, the Saudi Energy Ministry reported that forces intercepted a drone targeting an oil facility on Wednesday. The ministry stated that falling debris from the interception killed a Filipino and a Nepali national and injured two others.
Brief written by urgent.news from Toronto Sun, DW News, DW English (Top Stories), Malay Mail, ABC News AU — 5 reports on this story. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
