Houthi leader vows to defeat Saudi led coalition

Amidst Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman’s ongoing two-and-half weeklong visit to US, Saudi Arabian forces have intercepted seven missiles fired by Yemen’s Houthi Ansarullah in retaliation to the continued bombing on civilian targets. One of the missiles was targeted on capital Riyadh.

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According to official Alarabia.net, Turki al-Malki, spokesman for Arab Coalition said “This aggressive and hostile action by the Iran-backed Houthi group proves that the Iranian regime continues to support the armed group with military capabilities. The firing of multiple ballistic missiles towards cities is a serious development.”

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It has also claimed of receiving a video covering the moment anti-missile defense missiles were fired from Saudi Patriot batteries to intercept the Houthi missile over the capital.

Since November last year, Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi militias have fired multiple missiles into Saudi Arabia, all of which Saudi forces have intercepted.

Meanwhile Tehran based Press TV reports that Yemen’s Ansarullah fighters and allied army units have carried out more retaliatory missile attacks against Saudi Arabia, targeting several positions in the kingdom.

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It further said, Yemen’s military targeted King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh and Abha, Najran and Jizan regional airports with ballistic missiles. It quoted Saudi state television saying that its air force intercepted “some of the missiles over the northeastern part of the capital Riyadh on Sunday night”.

Official Saudi Press Agency (SPA) has reported that Yemeni forces fired seven missiles into the kingdom killing an Egyptian resident and wounding two other Egyptian nationals. Turki al-Malki, the official spokesman for the coalition, has confirmed that the death and injuries occurred in a residential house and were caused by falling debris.

Meanwhile, Abdul Malik Badreddin al-Houthi, the leader of the Houthi Ansarullah, has said that Saudi Arabia would not have dared to launch a campaign against Yemen if it had not received direct assistance from the US.

He was addressing live on state television on Sunday night on the third anniversary of the beginning of the Saudi led campaign. He said that the parties involved in the Saudi-led aggression against Yemen are backed by Washington, and are offered extensive military support as well as media coverage.

Al-Houthi alleged that Saudi Arabia and UAE were “puppet regimes” that are implementing US and Israeli plots in Yemen. He said, “The only parties benefiting from civil wars in the [Middle East] region are Americans and Israelis, who are responsible for most of the regional conflicts. The US is playing the principal intelligence and logistical role concerning the military aggression against Yemen.”

He further said, “Saudi Arabia is paying all the costs of the war on Yemen, and US officials are accordingly reaping substantial benefits. Aggressors want to take control of Yemen because of its highly strategic location.”

Describing his commitment with other oppressed people in the region, the Houthi leader extended his support to Palestinians and Bahraini counterparts. He said that Yemenis would never forget the sufferings of Palestinian nation and Bahraini people.

His opinions on the regional conflicts are similar to that of Iranian government. The basic tenets of the Iran’s Islamic revolution are clearly marked with their support to the oppressed Palestinians by Israeli forces and anti-Al-Khalifa regime movement, dominated by Shias in Bahrain. Iran does not recognise Israel as a country, instead Tehran calls the country a “Zionist entity”.

The Houthi Ansarullah leader also praised the Yemenis resistance against Saudi-led aggression, and said, “They wanted to bring us to our knees. However, they did not expect us to mount such spirited resistance because we do not want to give them any concessions.”

Earlier last week, Abdul Malik Badreddin al-Houthi had stressed that Saudi Arabia will finally fail in its all-out military aggression against Yemen as it failed in Syria and Iraq. He was speaking in an exclusive interview with Lebanon’s Arabic language Al-Akhbar daily newspaper.

Meanwhile, Yemen’s Ministry of Human Rights announced on Sunday, that the Saudi-led war has left 600,000 civilians killed and injured since March 2015.

United Nations say that a record 22.2 million Yemenis are in need of food aid, including 8.4 million threatened by severe hunger. It has warned against the “catastrophic” living conditions saying that there is a growing risk of famine and cholera in the country.

Read More: UN criticise Saudi Arabia for human rights violations in Yemen

Yemen is facing sea, land and air blockade which started in 2015 with the positioning of Saudi Arabian warships. US had joined the blockade in October 2016, which was further constricted following the November 2017 launch of a Houthi missile targeting Riyadh airport.

Saudi authorities had claimed of intercepting the missile while Houthis claimed of hitting the target. Riyadh had alleged Iran for supplying the powerful missile, which was denied by Tehran.