Dammam airport attack kills two and injures eight, as drones target Saudi oil sites

Saudi Arabia’s Eastern Province was hit twice on Wednesday, October 21, and South Asian workers were among the victims both times.

What happened at Dammam airport

King Fahd International Airport in Dammam was attacked on Wednesday evening. Saudi Arabia’s General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA) first reported one death and eight injuries, then raised the toll to two killed and eight injured.

• The dead were a Saudi citizen and an Indian national. The Indian Embassy in Riyadh confirmed the Indian death and said two other Indians were hurt, according to Gulf News.
• The injured include residents from India, Yemen, Bangladesh and Nepal, with injuries ranging from minor to critical.
• GACA says flights have resumed and “air traffic has returned to normal”. Damage is still being assessed.

Saudi authorities have not said what weapon was used or who carried out the attack.

Drone near the Shaybah oil field

The same day, Saudi air defences intercepted a drone heading for a facility at Saudi Aramco’s Shaybah oil field. Debris set fire to a contractor’s vehicle outside the site. The Energy Ministry said two people were killed, a Filipino and a Nepali, and two were injured, a Pakistani and an Indian, according to Reuters and Anadolu as carried by The Express Tribune and Daily Times. Operations were not affected.

Reuters also reported, citing six sources, that Aramco told staff at its Dhahran headquarters to evacuate and work from home. Aramco did not comment.

Who is behind it?

No group has claimed the Dammam attack. The US State Department, which ordered non-emergency staff out of Saudi Arabia the same day, blamed “Iranian-supported Houthis” in general terms for the rising attacks on the kingdom. The Saudi-led coalition said it shot down another drone over the Riyadh region on Thursday.

This is not the first airport hit this month. An attack on Riyadh’s King Khalid International Airport on October 10 killed 13 people.

For Pakistanis in Saudi Arabia

Many Pakistanis live and work in the Eastern Province. If you have family there:

• Follow official updates from the Saudi authorities and the Pakistani Embassy in Riyadh and Consulate in Jeddah.
• Keep passports, iqama and emergency numbers handy.
• Be careful with forwarded WhatsApp videos. Many old or unrelated clips are being shared as “new attacks”.

We will update this story if officials name the injured or confirm who was responsible.