Two Killed in Attack on Saudi Airport

Two people were killed and eight others injured in an attack on King Fahd International Airport in Dammam, eastern Saudi Arabia on Wednesday evening, the kingdom's General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA) stated. The fatalities included a Saudi citizen and an Indian resident, while the injured comprised individuals of Saudi, Indian, Yemeni, Bangladeshi, and Nepalese nationalities.

The GACA did not specify the nature of the attack. However, Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi movement has frequently targeted Saudi airports with drones and missiles. Earlier on Wednesday, two people died from debris after a drone was intercepted over the Eastern Province, where Dammam is located, according to the Saudi energy ministry. The ministry reported that the drone was targeting a processing facility owned by Saudi Aramco in the Shaybeh oil field when it was intercepted. A contractor's vehicle was set ablaze in the incident, and the deceased were identified as residents from the Philippines and Nepal.

The Saudi-led coalition supporting the Yemeni government announced the interception of four additional drones on Wednesday night. There has been no immediate comment from the Houthis, who have previously claimed responsibility for attacks on Saudi airports, energy facilities, and military bases as retaliation for Saudi airstrikes on territory they control in western Yemen.

Authorities in Saudi Arabia report that at least 21 people have been killed in Houthi attacks on Saudi airports since the beginning of October. A missile strike on Riyadh's international airport on October 10 resulted in 13 deaths and 308 injuries, marking the deadliest attack in Saudi Arabia in over a decade.

The conflict in Yemen has led to significant casualties and displacement. Houthi-run media reported at least six people killed and 11 injured in air and artillery strikes over the previous 24 hours. The Houthi-run health ministry stated that 155 civilians have died since the civil war intensified three months ago, while the government's health ministry reported at least 1,574 fatalities during the same period. The United Nations estimates that over 256,000 people have been displaced by the conflict.

The war began in 2014 when the Houthis took control of the capital, Sanaa, from the internationally recognized government. The conflict escalated the following year with the intervention of a Saudi-led coalition of Arab states aiming to restore the government's rule. An informal ceasefire that began four years ago started to deteriorate in July when the Houthis announced a "maritime embargo" against Saudi Arabia and initiated missile and drone attacks on Saudi airports, oil facilities, and tankers in the Red Sea. The Houthis cited a Saudi blockade of their territory and an airstrike on Sanaa airport, blamed on the kingdom, as reasons for their retaliatory actions.

The conflict intensified in September when the Houthis seized territory along Yemen's southwestern Red Sea coast near the Bab al-Mandab Strait, a critical global shipping route. Their advance contributed to a rise in oil prices following six months of war between the United States, Israel, and Iran. Earlier this month, pro-government forces claimed to have recaptured territory overlooking the Bab al-Mandab after launching a counter-offensive supported by Saudi airstrikes. Fierce fighting continues in that area, as well as around the besieged government-controlled city of Taiz and in the northern provinces of Marib, al-Jawf, Dhale, and Shabwa.