Pakistan

Islamabad, October 22, 2026. Pakistani media, led by Business Recorder, are treating the escalation between the Houthis and Saudi Arabia primarily as a shock to the markets. On Thursday, October 22, Brent crude gained $1.93, or 1.77%, to $110.75 a barrel, and WTI gained $1.43, to $98.58. Analysts at ING, cited by the newspaper, note that prices "remain well bid" after new deadly attacks against the kingdom.

The second thread of the narrative is diplomatic. On Wednesday, October 21, the State Department ordered the departure of non-essential employees from the US embassy and their families. Its spokesperson, Tommy Pigott, specified that the measure targeted Saudi Arabia "only", while linking the decision to the strikes against airports and affirming that the security of personnel remained "our highest priority". According to a diplomatic source cited by AFP, the families of diplomats would also have been ordered to leave the UAE, Jordan, Qatar, and Bahrain, all targeted by Iran during the regional war. Geo News and Business Recorder are repeating this chronology almost word for word.

The human toll is reported based on Saudi statements. ARY News, citing Saudi Gazette, reports one expatriate killed and eight injured at King Fahd International Airport in Dammam, according to the civil aviation authority. At the Shaybah field, operated by Saudi Aramco, the Ministry of Energy reports two deaths, a Filipino and a Nepali, and two injured, a Pakistani and an Indian, hit by debris from an intercepted drone. ARY puts the Pakistani in its title, and Business Recorder in its title: the national angle is imposed in the headlines.

The coverage also recalls the Yemeni context. Business Recorder reports that the Houthis, through the voice of Yahya Saree, deny having launched drones towards Medina, contradicting the coalition led by Riyadh. The newspaper recalls that the 2022 truce, negotiated under the auspices of the UN, has ended and that the escalation opens "another front" in the US-Israeli war against Iran, with explosions reported in Sirik, in southern Iran, and threats from the Revolutionary Guards against US bases.

The articles remain factual and largely draw on Reuters and AFP dispatches. They do not address the official position of Islamabad, nor the consequences for the Pakistani diaspora in the Gulf beyond the injured person in Shaybah.