DHAHRAN, Saudi Arabia — October 23, 2026. Saudi Aramco has evacuated its entire headquarters in Dhahran for the first time in the company’s history, as a deadly overnight wave of Houthi missile and drone strikes battered the kingdom’s airports and oil infrastructure — leaving thousands of Indian pilgrims stranded and drawing condemnation from the United Nations and the European Parliament.
Company officials confirmed that all employees at the sprawling Dhahran headquarters were told to work from home on Thursday, a move that rattled Gulf markets. Saudi Arabia’s benchmark stock index fell 2.5 percent on Thursday after reports of the evacuation circulated, according to LSEG data.
A Deadly Night of Strikes
The escalation began on Wednesday evening, when strikes hit two critical sites in the kingdom’s Eastern Province, state media reported. At King Fahd International Airport in Dammam, two people were killed, including Kamlesh Pandey, a 37-year-old Indian airport ground-support worker from Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh, and a Saudi national. Eight others were injured, among them two Indian nationals.
At Saudi Aramco’s Shaybah oilfield, a Filipino national and a Nepali national were killed, the Saudi energy ministry confirmed, while an Indian and a Pakistani worker were injured. The Houthis also claimed to have struck the Defence Ministry in Riyadh and an Aramco export facility in Yanbu, though Saudi authorities have not confirmed those claims. Saudi air defences intercepted and destroyed drones over Riyadh and Medina, officials said.
Wednesday’s attacks marked the latest escalation in a campaign that has seen the Houthis repeatedly target Saudi airports and energy facilities in recent weeks.
4,000 Pilgrims Stranded
The fallout has trapped roughly 4,000 Indian Umrah pilgrims in Makkah, Madina and Jeddah after Air India, IndiGo and Akasa Air suspended return flights amid the security threat. AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi raised the alarm on social media on Thursday, saying the pilgrims had been abandoned by their travel agents and urging India’s civil aviation regulator to permit larger aircraft and special evacuation flights.
Foreign ministry spokesman Randhir Jaiswal said about 3,000 stranded Umrah pilgrims had returned to India on available flights over the past week, and that arrangements for the rest were being discussed. Alternative routes on Saudia, Flynas and Flyadeal, or via the UAE, Bahrain and Qatar, remain available, the Jeddah consulate said.
In a separate development, Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree claimed on Thursday that Saudi forces had attacked a yacht carrying 14 Indian nationals near Zuqar Island in the southern Red Sea, saying the militia had rescued them. India’s mission in Yemen said it was ascertaining details and had reached out to all parties.
Condemnation and Markets on Edge
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned the Houthi attacks on civilian targets as “totally unacceptable,” while the European Parliament voted on Thursday to urge the EU Council to designate the Houthi movement a terrorist organisation — a proposal Yemen’s foreign ministry welcomed. India also expressed solidarity with Saudi Arabia, calling the attacks on civilian and energy infrastructure “completely unacceptable” and demanding they cease immediately.
The conflict unsettled energy markets. Brent crude futures rose to $111.88 a barrel on Thursday after touching $112.55 — the highest level since May — as traders weighed the risk to the world’s biggest crude exporter, trade sources said.
Services at Dammam airport resumed after Wednesday’s attack, though airlines continue to adjust schedules as the security situation develops.
