US Orders Non-Emergency Staff Out of Saudi Arabia After Aramco Drone Incident
Two people were killed and two injured in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday after debris from a drone intercepted by air defences fell near a processing plant at Saudi Aramco’s Shaybah oilfield. An Indian national is among the injured, and the United States has ordered non-emergency government staff and their families to leave the kingdom.
What happened
According to the Saudi Ministry of Energy, the drone was shot down on Wednesday morning as it tried to hit the processing facility at the oilfield in the Eastern Province. Falling debris set a contractor’s vehicle on fire outside the facility’s perimeter. The two people killed were a Filipino and a Nepali national, while an Indian and a Pakistani national were injured. The ministry said operations at the oilfield were not affected.
Shaybah is one of the kingdom’s major oil-producing facilities, located in the Empty Quarter near the border with the United Arab Emirates. The attack is suspected to have been carried out by Yemen-based Houthi rebels.
US orders staff out
Within hours, the US State Department ordered non-emergency government employees and their family members to leave Saudi Arabia. Spokesman Tommy Pigott said the order was due to increased attacks on the kingdom by Iran-backed Houthi rebels, including strikes on civilian airports and other critical infrastructure, which have caused civilian casualties and severe travel disruptions. The order applies only to non-emergency personnel.
Another incident
In a separate incident on Wednesday, an attack at King Fahd International Airport in Dammam reportedly killed one person and injured eight.
A string of attacks
The incident follows a series of attacks on the kingdom this month. A Houthi missile strike on Riyadh’s King Khalid International Airport earlier this month killed more than a dozen people and injured over 300. Days later, a limited fire broke out in an administrative building at Aramco in the Eastern Province after an attack, according to the energy ministry.
For all the latest updates, download PGurus App.
- Two Killed, Indian Among Injured as Drone Debris Hits Aramco’s Shaybah Oilfield - October 22, 2026
- CBI takes over murder probe of anti-drug activist Parvinder Singh Jhota, re-registers case - October 21, 2026
- SBI finds 3,897 customer records in suspected dark web data exposure, begins investigation - October 21, 2026
