Two killed, eight injured in attack on airport in Saudi oil city Dammam

Two people were killed, and eight were injured in an attack on Wednesday evening on King Fahd International Airport in Saudi Arabia's eastern oil city of Dammam, Saudi Arabia's General Authority of Civil Aviation said on Thursday.

Those killed were a Saudi citizen and an Indian national, the authority said. The injuries ranged from minor to serious. Damage was being assessed, it added.

Airport operations had resumed, and air traffic had returned to normal, the authority said.

Meanwhile, The US State Department has ordered some diplomats and family members to depart from its missions in Saudi Arabia and plans to withdraw family members from a number of other US missions in the region, US officials told Reuters.

The order came amid attacks in Saudi Arabia that killed at least one person and injured eight others at a civilian airport in Dammam, and two people were killed in a drone attack on an oil field.

State Department spokesperson Tommy Pigott said in a post on X that the department ordered the departure of "non-emergency US government employees and their family members in Saudi Arabia only" amid attacks by the Houthis in Yemen on civilian targets in the country.

Washington had returned some diplomatic personnel to the region in recent months after many were pulled out when Tehran launched attacks on US facilities after the US-Israeli war on Iran began in late February.

Read: 2 killed after Saudi air defenses intercept drone targeting Aramco oil field

"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," Pigott said.

Four US officials told Reuters that US missions in other Gulf states would also be ordering family members to leave. Pigott did not address changes to other missions outside Saudi Arabia.

The latest withdrawals follow an escalation of the fighting in Yemen, opening another front ​in the regional conflict triggered by the US-Israeli ⁠war on Iran. The wider conflict has snarled global energy trade and hurt Gulf economies.

Houthis strike Yemen’s Al-Rayyan airport for fourth time in hours: Army

Yemen’s army said on early Thursday that the Houthi group targeted Al-Rayyan International Airport in the city of Mukalla, the capital of Hadramout province, for the fourth time within hours.

The army’s official spokesman, Maj. Gen. Majed al-Nuzaili, said the “Houthi terrorist militia targeted Al-Rayyan International Airport in Mukalla for the fourth time,” according to September Net, a website affiliated with Yemen’s Defence Ministry.

In a statement, Nuzaili said that “targeting airports aims to impose a blockade on the Yemeni people,” the website reported. Al-Rayyan is one of Yemen’s most important civilian airports, serving millions of people in Hadramout and other provinces.

The Houthis had not immediately commented on the attack.

Two killed after Saudi air defenses intercept drone targeting Aramco oil field

Two foreign nationals were killed and two others injured Wednesday after Saudi air defenses intercepted a drone attempting to target a facility at Saudi Aramco’s Shaybah oil field in the country’s Eastern Province, the Energy Ministry said.

A ministry official said Saudi air defenses intercepted the drone as it attempted to strike one of the facilities at the oil field, according to the Saudi Press Agency (SPA).

Debris from the interception sparked a fire in a vehicle belonging to a contractor working at the field, outside the facility’s perimeter, the official said.

Read more: Oil rises as US orders diplomats to leave Saudi Arabia amid escalating tensions

The incident did not affect operations at the oil field, the ministry added.

The official identified the two fatalities as Philippine and Nepalese nationals, while the injured were Pakistani and Indian nationals.

Relevant authorities responded to the incident and took the necessary measures, according to the statement.