Saudi, UAE in missile range, Houthis threaten if Hodeidah truce cracks
Yemen’s Houthi forces have missiles that could be fired at
Riyadh, Dubai and Abu Dhabi should violence escalate in the main Yemeni port
city of Hodeidah, where a fragile ceasefire is now in place, the leader of the
Houthi movement said on Monday, according to Reuters.
Yemen’s four-year war pits the Iran-aligned Houthis against
the internationally recognized government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi,
which is backed by a Saudi-led coalition of Yemeni and Arab forces, which
include the United Arab Emirates.
“Our missiles are capable of reaching Riyadh and beyond
Riyadh, to Dubai and Abu Dhabi,” Abdul Malik al-Houthi told Houthi-run Masirah
TV.
“It is possible to target strategic, vital, sensitive and
influential targets in the event of any escalation in Hodeidah,” he said. “We
are able to strongly shake the Emirati economy.”
Houthi forces regularly fire missiles into southern Saudi
Arabia and occasionally aim for targets such as the capital Riyadh or
facilities of state oil company Saudi Aramco. Most missiles have been
intercepted by the Saudi military.
Hodeidah port is the entry point for most of Yemen’s
humanitarian aid and commercial imports. It is the current focal point of UN
efforts to implement a December deal between warring parties.
The United Nations is trying to get both sides to pull
troops out of Hodeidah but the process has stalled. Both sides blame the other
for lack of progress.
Although a ceasefire largely holds in Hodeidah, violence
continues elsewhere and has escalated in recent weeks.
Plagued by decades of instability, Yemen’s latest conflict
began in late 2014 when Houthi forces drove Hadi’s government out of the
capital Sanaa. The Saudi-backed alliance intervened in March 2015 to restore
Hadi’s government.
The Houthis, who say their revolution is against corruption,
control Sanaa and most population centers.
