Saudi Arabia’s General Directorate of Civil Defence sent emergency warnings to residents of Sharurah and Yanbu governorates on Thursday through the National Early Warning Platform, telling people to move to safe places immediately. Within hours, the authority said the danger had passed in both areas.
The alerts came a day after Yemen’s Houthi movement claimed a ballistic missile strike on King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh. They also followed the death of a Telangana man injured in an earlier attack on the same airport. Civil Defence did not say what triggered Thursday’s warnings, and no damage or casualties had been reported by publication time.
What residents were told
In separate posts on X, Civil Defence asked people in both governorates to stay calm and shelter in the nearest building, ideally in an interior room with no windows. The guidance followed the standard protocol the authority has used for every alert since the summer.
- Indoors: stay inside until the all-clear; keep away from windows, glass, balconies and rooftops.
- Outdoors: get into the nearest building or take cover behind a solid barrier; avoid open spaces.
- Driving: pull over safely, away from bridges and tall buildings.
- Afterwards: do not gather near affected sites or film incidents; follow only official channels.
Emergency numbers are 911 in Makkah, Madinah, Riyadh and the Eastern Province, and 998 in all other regions. Even after lifting the alerts, the authority repeated its call to avoid crowds and filming.
Why Sharurah and Yanbu matter
Both places have been named Houthi targets before, for different reasons.
- Yanbu is a Red Sea oil export hub and the main outlet for crude carried across the kingdom by the East-West pipeline . Its importance grew after the Strait of Hormuz was disrupted during the Iran war, pushing more Saudi exports to the Red Sea. The Houthis struck Yanbu in late July, and Civil Defence issued Yanbu alerts on July 25 and again in late October, the latter alongside Jeddah.
- Sharurah, in Najran province near the Yemeni border, hosts a Saudi military base. In September the Houthis said they hit it with ballistic missiles and drones, claiming to target weapons depots and command centres.
On October 25 the Houthis said their recent targets included energy facilities in Yanbu and Rabigh and the East-West pipeline.
Riyadh airport targeted again, Telangana man dies
On Wednesday, November 4, Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree claimed a ballistic missile strike on King Khalid International Airport, saying it hit accurately and caused significant damage. Saudi Civil Defence had briefly issued, then lifted, a “potential danger” warning for Riyadh Province in the early hours. Riyadh has not confirmed damage from that claim.
Saree again told airlines, airport staff and travellers to avoid Saudi airspace, exempting only Makkah and Madinah. The airport had only partly reopened on October 25, with Terminal 1 for domestic flights and Terminal 2 for Saudi carriers’ international services, after a two-week shutdown. Most foreign airlines have not yet returned.
A day earlier, on Tuesday, November 3, Sheikh Saeed, 36, from Kamareddy district in Telangana, died of injuries from the October 10 strike on the airport. He had been in critical condition since the attack Another Indian national injured that day had died on October 11.
How the escalation unfolded
The four-year calm that followed the 2022 UN truce broke on July 13, when a strike on Sanaa airport stopped an Iranian plane carrying a Houthi delegation from landing. Yemen’s government claimed the strike; the Houthis blamed Riyadh.
| Date (2026) | Event |
| Nov 5 | Civil Defence alerts in Sharurah and Yanbu; danger declared passed |
| Nov 4 | Houthis claim ballistic missile strike on Riyadh airport |
| Nov 3 | Sheikh Saeed of Telangana dies of Oct 10 injuries |
| Nov 2 | Heavy fighting as government forces push toward Bab al-Mandab |
| Oct 25 | Riyadh airport partly reopens after two-week closure |
| Oct 13 | Houthis target a Saudi Aramco office building in Dhahran; Saudi Arabia strikes oil sites in Sanaa |
| Oct 6–12 | Wave of missile and drone attacks on Riyadh, Abha and Dammam airports |
| Oct 5 | Yemen’s government launches Operation Dawn of Yemen; Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Turkey activate a joint defence pact |
| Sep 8 | Houthi strikes on multiple Saudi sites wound more than 70 |
| Jul 22 | Houthis attack two Saudi oil tankers in the Red Sea |
| Jul 20 | Houthis declare a maritime blockade of Saudi Arabia |
| Jul 13 | Sanaa airport strike; Houthis fire at Abha airport, ending the 2022 truce |
The ground war: Taiz and Bab al-Mandab
A month into Operation Dawn of Yemen, the fighting has settled into a war of attrition, analysts told Al Jazeera. The Saudi-backed government launched the offensive on October 5, aiming to retake all Houthi-held territory, including Sanaa.
- Bab al-Mandab: Government forces say they retook Taiz governorate’s Dhubab district and positions near the strait. A fresh push on November 2 met fierce resistance; the Houthis say they repelled it.
- Taiz and Lahij: The Houthis have made gains here. They retook Mokha in mid-September and encircled the city of Taiz in early October.
- Al-Jawf: The government said on November 1 it captured positions east of al-Hazm.
Both sides’ figures are unverified. The government says 16,100 Houthi fighters and commanders were killed or wounded since October 5; the Houthis say the coalition has carried out 3,939 attacks, including air strikes, since the escalation began. One recent Houthi missile strike killed at least 70 government recruits in Shabwah.
The strait matters far beyond Yemen: it links the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden and carries Saudi oil exports and Asia–Europe trade.
Background
Saudi Arabia entered Yemen’s war in March 2015, leading a coalition backing the internationally recognised government after the Houthis seized Sanaa in September 2014. A UN-brokered truce in April 2022 largely held until this July.
The current round is tied to the wider Iran war. The Houthis’ Red Sea blockade targets a route Saudi Arabia leaned on more heavily once Hormuz was disrupted Pakistan, Turkey and Egypt have pledged military support to the kingdom, and the UK announced further assistance on October 20.
The October airport strikes drew condemnation from UN Secretary-General António Guterres, the UN Security Council and dozens of governments, India included. Iran offered to mediate between the Houthis and Riyadh. Several countries, including the UK, US and Japan, warned citizens against travel to Saudi Arabia.
