The Iran-backed Houthis on Tuesday issued evacuation warnings for Saudi Aramco facilities in Dhahran and Riyadh and for Riyadh's King Khalid International Airport, following Saudi attacks on Sanaa, Yemen's capital. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been working through US mediators to secure Saudi permission for Israeli strikes on the Houthis.
Houthi military spokesman Yahya Sarie declared Aramco oil facilities legitimate targets and called on employees and civilians to leave them, The Jerusalem Post reported. He urged anyone near Saudi oil facilities to keep clear of all potential targets. Sarie also repeated earlier warnings to airlines, airport staff and passengers at Saudi airports.
For travelers, the US State Department has raised its Saudi travel advisory to Level 3, "Reconsider Travel," and placed the border areas with Yemen at Level 4, "Do Not Travel." Etihad Airways said it would cancel flights to Riyadh, Dammam and Jeddah until October 19, i24NEWS reported.
A spokesperson for the Saudi-led coalition said on Tuesday that civilians would shortly be told to evacuate a site in Sanaa ahead of a "special operation." The Houthis answered that any attack on the capital would draw a "harsh and painful response" aimed at Riyadh. i24NEWS later carried a report that Saudi Arabia had begun striking Houthi-controlled oil facilities near Sanaa.
On Monday, Houthi political bureau member Mohammed al-Bukhaiti told AFP the group would deliver a "swift and painful response" against the United States and its regional interests if Washington joined the Saudi campaign in Yemen.
