Riyadh probes defence lapse after Houthi strike
Saudi Arabia has launched an investigation to determine how its air defences failed to intercept a barrage of missiles and drones fired by Iran-backed Houthi rebels, including an attack on Riyadh airport that killed at least 13 people and wounded over 300, two regional officials said on Monday.
The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to comment publicly, said the initial probe showed that Yemen’s Houthis first fired multiple drones to pave the way for a mix of cruise and ballistic missiles to reach Riyadh’s King Khalid International Airport. The Houthis possess ballistic missiles and advanced systems fitted with warheads that can change direction during flight and pose a challenge to Patriot interceptors and other defence systems used by the Saudis.
One of the officials said the investigation also aims to find out why air defence systems did not provide earlier warning of the attack in which the Houthi missiles and drones flew over 1,000 kilometres (621 miles) to reach Riyadh.
The Saudi Government-run Centre for International Communication, which oversees foreign media, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
On Monday, Saudi state-run media reported that its military was responding to a new attack involving drones and cruise missiles, without providing details.
The Saudis are looking to the US to become more directly involved in their fight against the Houthis. The US has provided intelligence sharing, target identification and planning for a Saudi-led offensive, but so far has held off on directly carrying out strikes against the Houthis.
A US intervention could prompt the Houthis to try to halt shipping through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait at the southern end of the Red Sea off Yemen, restricting the flow of oil out of the Persian Gulf. The flow of Middle East oil has already been complicated by Iranian efforts to choke off the Strait of Hormuz, another waterway through which about one-fifth of the world’s oil flowed before the US-Iran war started in late February.
The rebels seized key areas along the Bab el-Mandeb last month.
The Saudi-led coalition, backing forces with Yemen’s internationally recognised Government, has been trying to seize them back.
US President Donald Trump on Saturday told reporters after the deadly airport strike that he was looking at the possibility of carrying out US attacks against the Houthis.
