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Houthi strikes on Saudi Arabia show the Yemeni rebels' growing strength · Best of: Features

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  Houthi strikes on Saudi Arabia's show the Yemeni rebels growing strength. This
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  article is being read by an automated voice generated by Everlett. Yemen's
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  Iran backed Houthi rebels have put their growing military capabilities on display
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  in recent weeks, repeatedly striking Saudi Arabia's main international airport hundreds of
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  miles, kilometers away, and seizing territory inside Yemen near a key shipping
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  choke point. At various times over the last decade, Saudi Arabia, the
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  United Arab Emirates, the United States, Britain, and Israel have carried out
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  punishing air raids on the rebels, only to see the grow even
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  stronger. The Saudis have struggled to counter the latest attacks, even with
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  far superior US supplied arms. A senior Saudi diplomat told reporters this
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  week that Iran was encouraging the escalation, and that over the summer
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  the Houthis had spurned an offer to negotiate. The Houthis operate in
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  a large and mountainous territory where they can disperse fighters and military
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  infrastructure while threatening major oil facilities and key trade routes. Iran and
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  its allies in Lebanon and Iraq provide expertise, training and sophisticated weapons,
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  according to UN and other experts. A recent report found that the
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  Houthis have tried to source parts from Chinese suppliers that are used
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  to make precision guided ballistic missiles with a range of roughly 1,200
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  miles. The rebels are increasingly well armed. The
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  Houthis, already have a wide array of ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and
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  drones, many resembling Iranian models that can reach all the Gulf states
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  as well as Israel. They have also used sophisticated anti ship missiles
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  and naval drones to strike vessels in the Red Sea, threatening a
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  critical trade route. Iran denies arming the
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  Houthis which would violate a UN embargo. China has not directly responded
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  to the latest report, but says it has a prudent and responsible
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  approach to military exports. Smuggled Iranian weapons and parts have been seized
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  from numerous Yemen bound shipments, and a report by UN experts in
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  twenty twenty four documented extensive military ties between the Houthis Iran, and
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  its other allies. That report estimated than the Houthis had recruited up
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  to three hundred fifty thousand fighters by twenty twenty four, up from
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  just thirty thousand in twenty fifteen, when Saudi
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  Arabia intervened in Yemen's civil war against the Houthis and imposed a
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  naval blockade. The Houthis can use relatively inexpensive drones and missiles to
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  target oil and other infrastructure just across the border in Saudi Arabia,
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  as well as tankers off the coast, and while Iran is believed
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  to supply cutting edge components like guidance systems, the Houthis can manufacture
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  much of their weaponry domestically and at a much lower cost than
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  the state of the art interceptors used by the Saudis. There are
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  suggestions they may even be using artificial intelligence to try to build
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  better missiles. Saudi Arabia has struggled to respond. Saudi Arabia boasts
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  an array of US supplied weapons, including sophisticated aircraft as well as
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  advanced missile defenses used against Iran at the height of the war
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  last spring. But with supplies of high end interceptors under pressure, it's
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  unclear how long it can ward off attacks. Not only from the
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  Houthis, but from Iran backed militias in Iraq, blamed for an attack
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  than briefly shut down an east west pipeline crucial for oil exports.
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  In recent days the Hothis have repeatedly struck King Khalid International Airport
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  in the capital, Riyadh, leading to a wave of flight cancellations. The
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  have also hit the headquarters of the national oil company, Aramco. Both
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  are several hundred miles kilometers from Yemen. At least nineteen people have
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  been killed, school classes have been cancelled, and the disruption threatens the
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  kingdom's ambitious plans to transform itself into a global hub for business,
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  tourism, and sports. Vulnerable assets are scattered across Saudi Arabia's sparsely populated
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  territory, which is roughly three times the size of Texas. Its border
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  with Yemen stretches more than one thousand three hundred kilometers through rugged
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  desert areas. Airstrikes have had limited effect. They Houthis, a Shiite, religious
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  and political movement rooted in northern Yemen, are attacking Saudi Arabia because
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  it supports Yemen's internationally recognized government in the civil war. The Sunni
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  Kingdom, which has long feared the emergence of a well armed ally
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  of Shia Irhan on its border, joined The war in twenty fifteen
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  After
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  the rebels seized much of northern Yemen, including the capital, Sana'a. Over
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  they next seven years, Sao Edi Arabia carried out waves of airstrikes
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  against the Houthi often killing civilians. An array of Yemeni government forces
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  and southern separatists struggled to push the Houthis back, and the battle
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  lines moved little before a twenty twenty two ceasefire. They following year,
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  after the outbreak of the war in Gaza, the Houthis began attacking
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  Red Sea shipping in what they said was a blockade of Israel.
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  The US and the UK launched waves of strikes against the Houthis
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  beginning In
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  january twenty twenty four. U.S. President Donald Trump ordered an intensified air
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  campaign early last year, with some two thousand munitions dropped on over
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  one thousand targets, a US military official told the Associated Press at
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  the time. After weeks of U.S. Strikes, the Houthis agreed to stop
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  attacking American ships. But they continued to target Israel, which responded with
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  its own strikes later in twenty twenty five, killing the Houthis Prime
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  Minister along with other senior officials, and repeatedly hitting a key port.
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  The Houthis largely kept to they sidelines in The
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  first several months of The Iran War, but in July they resumed
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  attacks on Saudi Arabia and declared a blockade on Saudi shipping. Any
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  lasting defeat would require ground troops, As recent conflicts have shown, air
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  power is rarely effective without ground troops who can move in and
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  seize territory after strikes. In the case of Yemen, the groundfighters inside
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  the country who are taking on the Houthis are deeply divided and
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  fought each other as recently as January. They include fighters loyal to
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  the Saudi backed government and southern separatists, supported by the United Arab
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  Emirates, a sometimes rival to the Saudis that withdrew from Yemen in
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  twenty nineteen. The US, still preoccupied with Iran, appears keen to stay
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  out. The Saudis signed a mutual defense pact with nuclear armed Pakistan
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  and NATO member Turkey in August, but it's unclear what kind of
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  assistance they are prepared to provide. The diplomatic options are also limited.
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  The Houthis are demanding that Saudi Arabia lift its blockade, which would
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  be an admission of defeat in the long running war, and pave
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  the way for even more extensive Iranian aid to the rebels.