Yemen’s armed group the Houthis have claimed a new ballistic missile attack on King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh, the Saudi capital. The group also reported a drone attack on King Khalid Air Base at Khamis Mushait in the country’s south-west. There is no independently confirmed information on the Houthis’ claims about the success of the attacks.
The Saudi-led military coalition, meanwhile, said a Houthi ballistic missile fired towards Riyadh was intercepted and destroyed in the air. The coalition’s spokesman, Major General Turki al-Maliki, gave the information on the social media platform X.
The Saudi authorities have begun an investigation into the recent attacks. They are examining why the country’s air defence system failed to give early warning of the attacks. A Saudi official told the Associated Press (AP) news agency this on condition of anonymity.
According to the report, missiles and drones fired from Yemen travelled more than 1,000km to reach Riyadh. The recent series of attacks on Saudi Arabia’s airports has raised new questions about weaknesses in the country’s defences.
The situation has become more complicated amid a conflict in the Middle East that has lasted more than seven months. Fears are growing in particular about the US and Israeli military operation around Iran and the spread of regional conflict as a result.
Who are the Houthis?
The Houthis are a military, political and religious movement in Yemen. They control a large part of the country’s north-west. By attacking cargo ships and oil tankers in the Red Sea, the group has also affected international trade and energy supply.
The Houthis emerged in the 1990s as a revivalist movement of the Zaidi Shia community in northern Yemen. The community once ruled Yemen, but its historical homeland later fell behind economically and was marginalised politically.
In the early period the Houthis fought several guerrilla wars with Yemen’s government forces. They also had border clashes with neighbouring Sunni-majority Saudi Arabia.
After Yemen’s long-time president Ali Abdullah Saleh was removed from power amid the mass protests of the Arab Spring in 2011, the Houthis strengthened their position in northern Yemen. They also rejected the political transition process that was shaped with the support of the Gulf states.
In this period, with Iran’s support, the group’s leader, Abdul Malik al-Houthi, turned its fighters into a large armed force.
In 2014 the Houthis took Yemen’s capital, Sanaa. The internationally recognised government was forced to move to Aden in the south.
The Houthis’ own name for their organisation is Ansar Allah, which means “helpers of God”. The group came to be known as the Houthi movement from the name of its founding leader, Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi.
Why the conflict with Saudi Arabia?
Saudi Arabia was worried about Iran’s growing influence in Yemen and instability in the border area. For this reason a Saudi-led coalition began a military operation in early 2015 to drive out the Houthis, restore the internationally recognised government and take the political transition forward.
But that operation prolonged Yemen’s civil war. Air strikes by coalition members, among them Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, and fighting among the various sides created a terrible humanitarian crisis in the country.
Because of Yemen’s difficult mountain terrain, neither side was able to establish final control. The Houthis kept control of the north-west, where most of the country’s people live.
During this time the group increased its capability in missiles and drones. It also carried out attacks on oil installations and key infrastructure in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
After the long conflict, a truce between Yemen’s warring sides was reached in 2022 with United Nations mediation. Tension has risen again recently, however.
Attacks in the Red Sea, pressure on world trade
In November 2023 the Houthis began attacking ships in the Red Sea, saying this was in protest at Israel’s war in Gaza and in support of the Palestinians. They also carried out missile and drone attacks on Israel.
Houthi attacks later rose again against the background of the US military operation around Iran. When Iran disrupted shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, Saudi Arabia had to depend more on its Red Sea ports and the Bab al-Mandeb strait to export oil.
This made the security of Saudi Arabia’s energy infrastructure and sea routes more important still.
According to the report, in September 2026 the Houthis seized the strategically important Perim island at the entrance to the Red Sea and the port city of Mocha. They took this step in order to increase their control over the Bab al-Mandeb strait and to help Iran, it said.
The sea lanes around the Red Sea and Bab al-Mandeb are extremely important for international trade. When movement on this route is disrupted, ships carrying goods between Europe and Asia have to take the long way round Africa. This raises the cost and time of transport and puts pressure on energy supply in the world market.
Saudi Arabia’s weight in the world energy market
Saudi Arabia is one of the world’s largest oil producers and exporters. Its energy sector is one of the main foundations of its economy.
The report notes that about 11% of the world’s total oil production comes from Saudi Arabia. The country holds an estimated 15% to 17% of the world’s proven oil reserves. About half of Saudi Arabia’s gross domestic product (GDP) and about 70% of its export earnings come from the oil and gas sector.
A major attack on the country’s oil installations, ports and transport system could therefore affect the international energy market as well as the Saudi economy.
The Houthis control about a third of Yemen’s territory. According to the report, about 70% of the country’s people live in the area they control.
A 2019 report estimated the number of the Houthis’ armed members at 180,000 to 200,000. Their arsenal was said to include tanks, armoured and other military vehicles, anti-tank missiles and long-range ballistic missiles.
Their drones and missiles can reach distant targets outside Yemen. The group has shown the capability to strike as far as Israel. The targeting of Saudi Arabia’s airports and oil installations is also a sign of its military capability.
Yemen’s geographical position has given the Houthis a further advantage. Because they are close to the Bab al-Mandeb strait, they have scope to put pressure on an important maritime trade route.
How close are the Houthis to Iran?
Iran supports the Houthis as part of its regional bloc in the Middle East known as the “axis of resistance”. The bloc’s other members include Lebanon’s Hezbollah and several Shia armed groups in Iraq.
But the nature of the Houthis’ relationship with Iran is not entirely the same as that of Hezbollah or those Iraqi groups. The Houthis do not recognise Iran’s supreme leader as their final religious authority. Yemen’s own domestic interests also play an important part in their political and military activity.
The United States alleges that Iran helps the Houthis with weapons, money and training and that Hezbollah also plays a part in this. The Houthis, however, object to being described as a group under Iran’s control. They maintain that they make their weapons themselves.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report