Flights at King Fahd International Airport in Dammam were running normally again by Thursday morning, the General Authority of Civil Aviation said, closing a two-day stretch in which the Houthis sent waves of drones toward several parts of Saudi Arabia and the Kingdom's air defences brought most of them down. Here is how the events unfolded, according to official statements.
On Wednesday morning, 21 October, air defences intercepted a drone heading for a processing facility at Saudi Aramco's Shaybah field in the Eastern Province, the Ministry of Energy said. Falling debris set fire to a contractor's vehicle outside the facility's perimeter. Two residents, from the Philippines and Nepal, lost their lives, and two others, from Pakistan and India, were injured. The ministry said operations at the field were not affected.
On Wednesday evening, King Fahd International Airport was attacked. The aviation authority first reported one death, then raised the toll in a follow-up statement to two: a Saudi citizen and an Indian resident. Eight more people, among them Saudi, Indian, Yemeni, Bangladeshi and Nepali nationals, suffered injuries described as minor to serious and are being treated in several hospitals.
At around 10am on Thursday, 22 October, the authority announced that operations at the airport had resumed. It said it was working with the security agencies concerned to assess the damage and protect passengers and staff.
During the day on Thursday, Maj. Gen. Turki Al-Maliki, spokesman for the Coalition to Restore Legitimacy in Yemen, announced that a drone had been intercepted and destroyed over the Riyadh region. Less than two hours later he reported four more drones destroyed over the Riyadh and Madinah regions, bringing the day's total over the two regions to five.
Later on Thursday, the National Early Warning Platform sent an alert in Najran as a ballistic missile fired toward the area was intercepted. Civil Defense then declared that the threat there had passed.
In the early hours of Friday, 23 October, Civil Defense announced that the threat had passed in Riyadh, Najran, Abha and Khamis Mushait after early warnings were issued, and urged citizens and residents to keep following safety guidance.
