Saudi Arabia just told the US to pull its staff out

Saudi Arabia has been hit so many times this month that the US is pulling diplomats' families out of the country.

And Saudi Aramco just evacuated its own headquarters too.

So what actually happened? Five days ago, in the evening, the Houthis hit King Fahd International Airport in Dammam.

Saudi Arabia's civil aviation authority first said one person died and eight were hurt. Then it changed the number. Two dead now — a Saudi citizen and an Indian resident. The eight injured come from Saudi Arabia, India, Yemen, Bangladesh and Nepal.

The Houthis told Reuters they did it, according to Voice of Emirates. But at the time of the freshest reporting, no verified claim had actually been published, and Saudi authorities hadn't said what weapon was used.

The airport is already back open. Normal flights, running again.

Here's the thing though. This isn't the first time.

The Houthis had already said they hit this exact airport ten days earlier, on 11 October. And a week before that, on 10 October, a Houthi drone hit Riyadh's King Khalid International Airport. Twelve people died. More than 300 were hurt.

It's not just airports either. On the same day as the Dammam strike, a drone aimed at Aramco's Shaybah oilfield got shot down. But the debris falling back to earth killed two people — a Filipino and a Nepali national. Two more were hurt.

So that's the run of attacks that made Washington move.

Five days ago, the US State Department ordered non-emergency government staff and their families to leave Saudi Arabia. The order covers the US Embassy in Riyadh and every US consulate in the country, according to the Associated Press.

Tommy Pigott, the State Department's spokesperson, called the Houthis Iranian-supported and says quote "attacks on civilian airports and other critical infrastructure resulting in civilian casualties".

That's Washington saying, on the record, it no longer thinks Saudi Arabia's airports are safe for its own people.

Four unnamed US officials told Reuters the same thing is coming for other Gulf missions. Pigott hasn't confirmed that. He's pushed back on it. So officially, for now, it's Saudi Arabia only.