Houthis escalate strikes on Saudi Arabia
STC NEWS MONITORING DESK
RIYADH/DUBAI, OCTOBER 08 (STC): Houthis have escalated their strikes against Saudi Arabia on Thursday, trying to shut down the kingdom’s airspace and oil facilities with missile fire that has killed three people this week, reports Reuters.
The group said it had struck Riyadh airport, where witnesses saw smoke billowing from a plane, and it warned workers to stay away from energy plants. Saudi officials said debris from an intercepted missile had hit a kindergarten and medical complex.
The Houthis say they are targeting the kingdom over its support for government forces in Yemen’s reignited civil war. Saudi Arabia says it is backing an offensive by Yemen’s UN-recognised government to take back territory from the Houthis.
The conflict, now an overspill of the US-Iran war, has added new chaos to a region already aflame, and threatens to draw other states into gruelling mountain fighting – with Syria now considering deploying troops to assist Saudi Arabia.
Reports reveal that the kingdom has pushed for support from allied nations, including Turkey and Pakistan, even if only in a logistical or defensive capacity, as it tries to reverse Houthi gains in southwest Yemen, by the southern entrance to the Red Sea.
Those requests have taken on more urgency since Saudi authorities said on Wednesday that three people had been killed this week in strikes on Riyadh airport and Abha airport in the southwest.
(Straight Talk Communications I Source: Reuters)
