US tells all non-emergency staff to leave Saudi Arabia as Houthis step up attacks
The US has ordered all non-emergency government employees and their families to leave Saudi Arabia due to “safety risks” from ramped-up Houthi attacks.
Staff members were told to leave on 23 October following a number of strikes in recent weeks targeting civilian airports, hospitals, and other critical infrastructure, the US embassy in Riyadh said on Friday.
It comes as Yemen’s government armed forces spokesperson said that the Iran-aligned Houthis attacked Aden airport and the Maashiq presidential palace complex with ballistic missiles.
The attack comes after at least 13 people were killed and hundreds injured in a strike on Riyadh’s international airport on 10 October, making it the deadliest attack in the kingdom in more than a decade.
The Houthis, a Yemen-based armed paramilitary group with links to Iran, have vowed to keep attacking the hub, which they branded a “military target”.
Officials said the airport reopened on Sunday, but that it had intercepted another barrage of drones and missiles on the same day.
US government employees require special authorisation to use Saudi airports following recent missile and drone attacks, the embassy said, warning US citizens of potential further attacks, airspace closures, flight cancellations and other travel disruptions.
The fighting between Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis and the Saudi-led coalition backing Yemen’s government has intensified in recent weeks, opening a volatile new front in the wider US-Israeli war on Iran.
Recent strikes targeting Saudi energy infrastructure and municipal facilities have forced temporary airport closures and heightened regional security alerts.
The strikes were accompanied by a Houthi surge which saw the group seize control of the strategic Bab el-Mandeb strait in a bid to secure control over the Red Sea. Analysts say the main aim of the offensive is to secure control over the Red Sea as Iran maintains its grip over Hormuz, allowing them to raise oil prices and making it harder for Washington to resolve the crisis.
Donald Trump has so far avoided any commitment to bailing ally Saudi Arabia out with strikes against the Houthis, though experts say US intervention may be needed to break the Houthi grip on the Red Sea.
