Houthis have attacked airports and oil infrastructure across Saudi Arabia, following on from claiming full control of the key port city of Yemen last month
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Egypt’s security body has announced that it will support Saudi Arabia after fighting between the nation and Houthi rebels in Yemen continues.
Saudi Arabia has faced repeated attacks by the Houthis, who have targeted airports and oil infrastructure in the nation using drones and missiles. At least 19 people have been killed, and thousands of flights have been impacted. In addition, Saudi Civil Defence authorities said a projectile fired by the Houthis landed in a residential area of Najran province in the kingdom, wounding six people.
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The Houthis resumed attacks on Saudi Arabia in recent weeks as Saudi Arabia has supported Yemen’s internationally recognised government in the civil war. Last month, the Houthis claimed full control of the key port city of Mocha at the southern tip of the Red Sea, as well as making advances near the Bab el-Mandeb Strait.
Houthi rebels have said attacks by Saudi-led forces have killed or wounded more than 30 people in the past 24 hours. According to Yahya Saree, the Houthis’ military spokesperson, 110 missiles or airstrikes were carried out against civilian sites in Sanaa (the capital and largest city in Yemen) and other cities.
A spokesperson for the Saudi-led coalition supporting Yemen’s government, Major-General Turki al-Maliki, said that the Houthis have acquired advanced technologies with regional assistance. According to al-Maliki, this has made the Houthis the first nonstate armed group to deploy weapons such as ballistic missiles, suicide drones and high-speed boats laden with explosives.
A Yemen specialist at the London-based security think tank Royal United Services Institute said the situation in Yemen is ‘spiralling out of control’.
This week Pakistan also announced it is providing ‘whatever support is needed’ to defend Saudi Arabia from attacks by Houthi rebels. Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and Türkiye are part of the Mecca Joint Defence Alliance. Earlier this month, the alliance agreed to activate ‘deterrence measures’ and deploy forces to the kingdom to counter attacks from the Houthis.
