Follow-Up: UK to Fly Typhoon Jets in Saudi Air Defence; Houthis Claim 93 Saudi Airstrikes on Yemen in 24 Hours
The UK Ministry of Defence issued an operational update on October 20 announcing expanded military support for Saudi Arabia: Royal Air Force Typhoon jets will fly "defensive counter-air missions" to help protect Saudi cities, civilians and critical national infrastructure against missiles and drones fired by Yemen's Houthi movement. London stressed that the jets will operate only in a defensive role and will not conduct offensive strikes against Houthi targets in Yemen.
The package also includes an A400M Atlas transport aircraft to move defence equipment within Saudi Arabia, British military advisers to support Saudi staff officers, and a 90-day extension of the air-to-air refuelling support Britain began providing last month. Defence Secretary Wes Streeting said the Houthis' continuing attacks on "our ally Saudi Arabia" were "absolutely despicable," adding that the targeting of Riyadh's King Khalid International Airport showed the lengths the Houthis were going to escalate the situation, and that he had approved the further support. The ministry said the move followed a request from the Saudi government; it did not say how many Typhoons will be deployed.
The same day, Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree said in a statement that Saudi forces had carried out 93 airstrikes and missile attacks over the past 24 hours against eight Yemeni governorates, Al-Jawf, Taiz, Saada, Marib, Hajjah, Lahij, Amran and Ibb, causing civilian deaths and injuries. He said the strikes were flown by F-15 and Typhoon jets from the Khamis Mushait, Taif and King Khalid air bases and from Sharurah airport, and put the total number of Saudi air and missile attacks since the current escalation began at 2,793. Al-Masirah TV, run by the Houthis, reported that two fishing boats were hit off Dhubab in southwestern Taiz governorate the same day, killing eight fishermen.
The figures were released by the Houthi side and have not been independently verified; Saudi Arabia had not responded to Saree's latest statement. The Saudi-led coalition's spokesman, Turki Al-Maliki, was reported to have said the coalition intercepted and destroyed a drone over the Riyadh area and a ballistic missile fired toward Riyadh. In Yemen's southern Shabwa governorate, local authorities said on October 20 that the death toll from a Houthi missile strike on a government security forces training camp a day earlier had risen to 73, with 14 people missing and more than 200 wounded; Saree said the camp was run by Saudi officers, while Yemen's information minister condemned the attack and said the training centre was not a legitimate military target. Saudi authorities did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the camp strike.
Fighting between the Houthis and Yemen's Saudi-backed government has intensified since a UN-brokered truce collapsed in July. Houthi strikes on Saudi airports and oil facilities have followed, including an attack on King Khalid International Airport that killed 13 people and wounded more than 300. The UN refugee agency said on October 20 that the renewed fighting has displaced some 250,000 people in Yemen. (GSM reporting based on the UK Ministry of Defence update, Xinhua, Reuters and the Associated Press)
Related:
Saudi Arabia Says It Intercepted a New Wave of Houthi Missiles and Drones
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：也门胡塞武装发言人叶海亚·萨雷亚（资料图）。照片：Belqees TV，CC BY 3.0，经维基共享资源（Wikimedia Commons）发布。Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree (file photo). Photo: Belqees TV, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
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