Small Wars Journal

Houthis Strike Saudi Airport, Escalating Yemen Conflict

Thu, 06/13/2019 - 12:13am

Houthis Strike Saudi Airport, Escalating Yemen Conflict by Vivian Yee – New York Times

Yemen’s Houthi rebels attacked an airport in southern Saudi Arabia on Wednesday, wounding 26 people in the latest escalation of a four-year-old conflict that threatens to further strain relations between the United States and Iran.

A Houthi official, Mohamed Abdul Salam, said the strike was in retaliation for the Saudi-led coalition’s continued “aggression and blockade,” against Yemen.

Saudi Arabia, which considers the Houthis Iranian proxies, described the attack as a “continuation of the Iranian regime’s support and practice of cross-border terrorism” and vowed to retaliate.

The violence has escalated in the last few weeks, imperiling a brittle cease-fire agreement, and the Saudi-led military coalition has tightened its blockade of a major seaport and the airport in Sana, the Houthi-controlled capital. On Monday, the official Saudi Press Agency reported that its coalition had “intensified” air raids on the Houthis in northwest Yemen…

Read on.