Saudi Aramco has ordered the evacuation of its headquarters in Dhahran, six people with knowledge of the matter said on Thursday, as fighting between the kingdom’s oil giant and Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis deepens. Staff were told to leave the building and work from home.
The order follows a series of Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia that have targeted the company and the kingdom’s airports. Aramco did not immediately answer a request for comment, and the reason for the evacuation was unclear. The sources said it would be the first such evacuation since the Iran war began.
Fighting spreads toward the Red Sea shipping route
Clashes between the Houthis and a Saudi-led coalition backing Yemen’s internationally recognised government have continued since the group moved toward the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, a shipping chokepoint at the mouth of the Red Sea. Renewed fighting in recent weeks ended a 2022 truce brokered by the United Nations, which had largely halted cross-border attacks. It also opened another front in the US-Israeli war on Iran.
Also read: US orders non-emergency staff to leave Saudi Arabia over Houthis · Saudi Arabia Gets UK and French Forces Amid Houthi Attacks
The kingdom’s benchmark index, TASI, fell 2.5% on Thursday after the Aramco news, according to LSEG data.
Strikes hit Aramco headquarters and Saudi cities
The Houthis caused extensive damage to Aramco’s headquarters earlier this month, when a strike set fire to several floors. On Thursday, the Saudi-led coalition said it had intercepted drones over Riyadh and the holy city of Madina.
Saudi Arabia has responded with strikes on missile launcher sites and has vowed to protect the kingdom. It says it has intercepted many ballistic missiles fired by the group.
Dammam airport attack and disputed boat incident
A Houthi attack on King Fahd International Airport in Dammam, near Dhahran, on Wednesday evening killed two people, a Saudi citizen and an Indian national, and wounded eight others. Saudi Arabia’s General Authority of Civil Aviation said on Thursday that operations had resumed and air traffic had returned to normal.
Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree said the group was rescuing a boat carrying 14 Indians that had been attacked off Jabal Zuqar island, one of the territories the group seized in an advance in September. Saree blamed Saudi Arabia for the attack. Saudi authorities did not respond to a request for comment. The Houthis had earlier warned airlines against using Saudi airspace.
