Saudi Arabia launches Yemen air strikes as alliance builds against Houthi rebels

White House confirms support for military effort, claiming international mandate to end ‘widespread instability and chaos’ that drove Yemeni president into exile

Dan Roberts in Washington, Kareem Shaheen in Beirut and agencies

Thursday 26 March 2015 06.14 EDT Last modified on Thursday 26 March 2015 10.18 EDT

The US has confirmed its support for an extraordinary international military alliance that is emerging to counter Houthi rebel advances in Yemen.

As Saudi Arabia began pounding the rebels with airstrikes, countries from the Middle East to Pakistan were said to be prepared to commit troops for a ground assault.


The Saudi-led military intervention has been strongly backed by the US, and other global powers may be drawn in as the crisis unfolds

The US was providing “logistical and intelligence support” to the Saudi-led forces attacking the rebels, the White House announced. Meanwhile the Saudi-owned Al Arabiya news channel said the kingdom had lined up 150,000 soldiers in preparation for a ground offensive, with Egypt, Pakistan, Jordan and Sudan also ready to commit troops.

In a sign of the broadening scope of Barack Obama’s intervention across the region, officials in Washington said the US was establishing a “joint planning cell” with Saudi Arabia to co-ordinate the air strikes on the Houthi forces seeking to overthrow the Yemeni government.

Al Arabiya also said planes from Egypt, Morocco, Jordan, Sudan, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Bahrain were taking part in the operation.

Unidentified warplanes had earlier launched air strikes on the main airport in the Yemeni capital, Sana’a, and its al-Dulaimi military airbase, residents said.

Saudi Arabia said Houthi-controlled air defences and four warplanes were destroyed. A Houthi-backed TV station said 17 civilians were killed.

Yemen shut its major seaports on Thursday in response to the operation, industry and local sources said.

Iran, which is widely believed to be backing the Houthis, demanded an immediate halt to the operation.

“The Saudi-led airstrikes should stop immediately and it is against Yemen’s sovereignty,” said Iranian foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, according to the Students News Agency. Earlier, Iran’s foreign ministry said the airstrikes were a “dangerous step” that would worsen the crisis in Yemen.

A widening Yemen conflict could pose risks for global oil supplies, and Brent crude oil prices shot up nearly 6% soon after the operation began.

Unlike recent attacks in Iraq and Syria, the US said none of its planes or troops were currently engaged in Yemen but insists the action is a legitimate response to the advances made by Houthi rebels.

People gather at the site of an air strike at a residential area near Sanaa Airport Facebook Twitter Pinterest
People gather at the site of an air strike at a residential area near Sanaa Airport Photograph: Khaled Abdullah/Reuters
“The United States strongly condemns ongoing military actions taken by the Houthis against the elected government of Yemen,” said National Security Council spokeswoman Bernadette Meehan. “These actions have caused widespread instability and chaos that threaten the safety and wellbeing of all Yemeni citizens.”


The US also claims a degree of international backing for the strikes although no formal United Nations mandate has been sought.

Meehan continued: “The international community has spoken clearly through the UN security council and in other fora that the violent takeover of Yemen by an armed faction is unacceptable and that a legitimate political transition – long sought by the Yemeni people – can be accomplished only through political negotiations and a consensus agreement among all of the parties.

“We strongly urge the Houthis to halt immediately their destabilizing military actions and return to negotiations as part of the political dialogue.”

Earlier, Washington sources said Saudi forces had acted in consultation with the White House in launching air strikes against Houthi rebels to try to dislodge their grip on the port city of Aden.

In a rare press conference, the Saudi ambassador to Washington, Adel al-Jubeir, told reporters that a 10-country coalition had joined the military campaign in a bid “to protect and defend the legitimate government” of Yemen’s president, Abd-Rabbuh Mansour Hadi. He declined to give any information on Hadi’s whereabouts.

The Saudi-led air campaign against the Houthis in Yemen has been called “Decisive Storm”.

Officials also said the operation is intended to deter the strategic threat against the Gulf states posed by the Houthi advance and Iran’s growing strategic power, with Gulf cities coming in range of rebel missiles.

The UAE’s minister of state for foreign affairs, Anwar Gargash, said on Twitter that the “difficult decision” to join the operation was necessary in light of a strategic threat to the Gulf states posed by a growing missile threat as a result of the Houthi advance.

“The strategic change in the region to Iran’s benefit, whose banner was carried by the Houthis, cannot be ignored,” he said. “The crisis in Yemen and the Houthi coup is another sign of the weakness of the Arab regional regime, and Decisive Storm is a new page of Arab cooperation to keep the region secure.”

Jubeir said the Houthis “have always chosen the path of violence”. He declined to say whether the Saudi campaign involved assistance from US intelligence.

He said the Saudis “will do anything necessary” to protect the people of Yemen and “the legitimate government of Yemen.”

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