US Orders Non-Emergency Staff and Families Out of Saudi Arabia Amid Rising Houthi Conflict
The US State Department has issued an ordered departure for non-emergency US government employees and their family members in Saudi Arabia, a spokesperson said in a statement.
Saudi authorities said debris from a drone intercepted during an attempted attack on an oil field killed two people, while one person died after a strike at the King Fahd International Airport in Dammam.
Conflict between Yemen's Iran-backed Houthis and Saudi Arabia has been rising over the past month, with the Houthis answering Saudi strikes by launching missiles and drones at airports, energy facilities and military bases inside the kingdom.
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Notice how narrow the order is: non-emergency government employees and their families, not a full pullout. The State Department's warning that the hostilities have the potential to escalate rapidly is the sentence that ages worst if they do.
There is a stated reason on the Houthi side: the group said it was retaliating for what it calls a Saudi blockade of its territory and for an airstrike on Sanaa airport that it blamed on the kingdom. The conflict itself is old — it began when the Houthis ousted Yemen's government from the capital, Sanaa, in 2014.