Arabic version: المملكة المتحدة سترسل مقاتلات من سلاح الجو الملكي للدفاع الجوي السعودي
According to BBC News, the UK will deploy RAF Typhoon jets to help defend Saudi Arabia from escalating Houthi missile and drone attacks. The mission, authorised by Prime Minister Andy Burnham, is intended to protect Saudi cities and infrastructure following attacks on Riyadh and energy sites on the country’s coast.
Defence Secretary Wes Streeting said the aircraft would have a defensive role and would not carry out offensive strikes against the Houthis. The UK will also send military advisers and an RAF A400M transport aircraft to help move defence equipment within Saudi Arabia. Britain is already providing defence-support equipment and air-to-air refuelling for defensive Saudi operations, with the refuelling arrangement extended by 90 days.
Saudi Arabia has faced renewed attacks since a ceasefire of sorts in Yemen broke down. The Houthis launched an offensive against Yemen’s internationally recognised government and seized effective control of the Bab al Mandab strait. Saudi-backed government forces mounted a counter-offensive, while the Houthis struck targets deeper inside Saudi territory, including King Khalid airport, energy facilities and key ports.
Saudi authorities said 19 people were killed in Houthi attacks on the kingdom’s airports last week. A missile strike on Riyadh’s international airport on 10 October killed 13 people and injured 308 others. Streeting said the airport attack showed the lengths to which the Houthis were escalating the situation, while also pointing to Gulf violence disrupting energy supplies and increasing costs for families and businesses.
The Houthis are fighting Yemen’s internationally recognised government, which is backed by Saudi Arabia. The group said it had targeted “Saudi enemy concentrations” in a missile strike on a camp in Yemen’s Shabwa province that killed more than 70 security personnel. Saudi Arabia has struggled to intercept missiles and drones after much of its air-defence capability was used against Iranian attacks earlier this year, while the country’s size makes comprehensive air defence difficult.
