The US embassy in Saudi Arabia has ordered all American staff and their families to leave the country, diplomatic sources told AFP news agency, as the country comes under sustained attacks by Yemen's Houthi militia.
"All American staff and their families have been ordered to depart from the US embassy in Saudi Arabia," the source said, adding that the families of embassy staff were also ordered to leave the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Qatar and Bahrain.
Reuters citing three US officials on Wednesday said that the US State Department is preparing to issue an ordered departure of some personnel and family members from US embassies across the Gulf region.
The move was due to a possible resumption of hostilities, particularly with Houthi militia in Yemen, two of the US officials said.
The US Embassy in Riyadh issued a security alert about possible further attacks by the Houthis on Saudi Arabia, after recent deadly strikes including on Riyadh's airport.
Two of the US officials said the ordered departures would potentially involve the evacuation of all personnel and their families from the US Mission to Saudi Arabia.
On Wednesday, two people were killed in an attack on Saudi Arabia's Shaybah oilfield after air defences intercepted a drone attempting to target a facility at the field in the Eastern region, state news agency reported citing an energy ministry official.
There was no impact on operations in the field following the drone attack.
Yemen fighting
Fighting between the Saudi-led coalition backing Yemen's internationally recognised government and the Houthis, who control the capital Sanaa and much of the north, has escalated in recent weeks, opening another front in the US-Israeli war on Iran.
In recent weeks, Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia have reached an unprecedented scale, forcing Riyadh to shut its main airport and postpone a major investment conference.
A Houthi maritime blockade is also threatening oil exports from the kingdom, the world's biggest crude exporter.
Yemen’s government launched an offensive earlier this month to recapture Houthi-occupied areas, including the capital Sanaa, with support from the Saudi-led coalition.
Yemen has been engulfed in conflict since the Houthis seized Sanaa and several other provinces in 2014, prompting a Saudi-led coalition to intervene in March 2015 in support of the internationally recognised government.
The Houthis control much of northern and western Yemen, while government forces and their allies hold Aden and large parts of the country’s southern and eastern provinces.
