TEL AVIV – As fighting
in Yemen continues to escalate, the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels have plans to
fire ballistic missiles into Riyadh, the capital and largest city of Saudi
Arabia, according to Middle Eastern defense officials speaking to WND.
Such a move would be a
game-changer in the months-long battle for control of Yemen that already has
spilled across the Saudi border.
In June, marking the
first use of ballistic missiles by the Houthis in the conflict, the rebels
fired a Scud missile at Saudi Arabia, which the kingdom said it shot down. The
Houthi rebels and its allied armies had fired the Scud toward the southwest
Saudi town of Khamees Mushait, which houses the largest air force base in
southern Saudi Arabia.
Three weeks earlier, WND
broke the story that, despite the presence of the aircraft carrier USS Theodore
Roosevelt off the coast of Yemen at the time, the Iranians succeeded in
smuggling Scud B and C missiles to the rebels fighting in Yemen
In August, the Houthis
again fired a Scud toward southern Saudi Arabia. The Saudi military said it
intercepted the missile and retaliated with air strikes on Yemeni territory.
WND reported in May on
the delivery of the Scuds to the Houthi rebels, citing Jordanian security
officials. The security officials described the possession of the missiles by
the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels as a direct threat to the Saudi kingdom and
its oil fields.
The Jordanian officials
said the Scuds could endanger Saudi Arabia and potentially disrupt the global
oil market.
WND further reported in April the Russian navy aided Iranian ships attempting
to bring arms to the Tehran-backed rebels in Yemen, according to informed
Middle Eastern defense officials.
The defense officials
said the Russian navy ships were maneuvering to create a clear path for the
Iranian vessels to bypass the U.S. fleet and arrive in Yemen.
The officials said Saudi
Arabia, which backs the embattled Yemeni government, filed a complaint with
Moscow about the purported Russian naval movements.
It was not immediately
clear where the Russian navy was attempting such a maneuver.
Now Middle Eastern
defense officials say the Houthis have plans in the works to fire missiles into
Riyadh, home to some 5.7 million people and site of the largest international
airport in Saudi Arabia.
On Thursday, as part of
their push to retake the Yemeni central city of Marib and the country’s
capital, Sanaa, the Saudi-led Arab coalition targeted insurgent positions in
those areas. The latest bombardment came hours after the Houthis’ Al-Masirah
television aired footage touted as proof that the rebels captured several Saudi
troops, including one man who identified himself as being part of a Saudi
brigade.
The Associated Press
reported from Marib that military vehicles from the United Arab Emirates, a key
member of the coalition, “made their way Thursday along a two-lane road between
Marib and a sprawling military base further east.”
“The influx of troops
and hardware from the Emirates and other Gulf states appears to be adding
momentum to the fight to retake territory,” the AP reported.
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