Indian Resident Among Two Killed in Dammam Airport Attack

An Indian resident and a Saudi citizen were killed in an attack on King Fahd International Airport in Dammam on Wednesday evening, 21 October, Saudi Arabia’s General Authority of Civil Aviation said. Eight others were injured, including nationals of Saudi Arabia, India, Yemen, Bangladesh and Nepal.

BBC News reported the aviation authority’s account. The authority did not identify the weapon or method used in the attack. Although Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi movement has repeatedly targeted Saudi airports with missiles and drones, there was no immediate comment from the movement on this incident.

The casualties bring the violence directly into focus for Indian families with relatives working in the kingdom. The report did not identify the Indian resident who died or specify how many of the injured were Indian.

Separate drone interception leaves two dead

Earlier on Wednesday, debris from an intercepted drone killed two people in Saudi Arabia’s Eastern Province, according to the kingdom’s energy ministry. It said the drone had been heading towards an Aramco processing facility in the Shaybeh oil field.

A contractor’s vehicle caught fire in that incident. The ministry identified those killed as residents from the Philippines and Nepal. Separately, the Saudi-led coalition supporting Yemen’s government said it intercepted four more drones on Wednesday night.

Airport attacks take a growing toll

Saudi authorities say Houthi attacks on the kingdom’s airports have killed at least 21 people since the beginning of October. A missile strike on Riyadh’s international airport on 10 October killed 13 people and injured 308, making it the deadliest attack in Saudi Arabia in more than a decade, according to the report.

The Houthis have previously described attacks on Saudi airports, energy installations and military bases as retaliation for deadly Saudi air strikes on areas they control in western Yemen. On Wednesday, their military spokesman separately claimed an attack on military equipment at an airport in al-Mukalla, southern Yemen, saying Saudi Arabia had delivered it for pro-government forces. That claim does not establish responsibility for the Dammam attack.

Renewed Yemen fighting and civilian losses

The airport attack comes amid renewed fighting in Yemen. Houthi-run media reported at least six deaths and 11 injuries from air and artillery strikes over the preceding 24 hours. The Houthi-run health ministry put civilian deaths since the conflict intensified three months ago at 155, while the government’s health ministry reported at least 1,574 deaths in the conflict over that period. These are differently defined tolls from opposing authorities, not directly comparable counts. The UN says more than 256,000 people have been displaced.

Yemen’s war began in 2014, when the Houthis removed the internationally recognised government from Sanaa. A Saudi-led coalition intervened the following year. A four-year informal ceasefire began breaking down in July, when the Houthis announced what they called a maritime embargo against Saudi Arabia and launched attacks on airports, oil infrastructure and Red Sea tankers.

Fighting intensified in September as the Houthis seized territory near the Bab al-Mandab Strait, a major shipping chokepoint. Pro-government forces said earlier this month that a counter-offensive backed by Saudi air power had recaptured territory overlooking the strait, but fighting continues there and across several other fronts.