Yemen's Houthis say Saudi, UAE in missile range if truce cracks

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Yemen's Houthi rebel forces have missiles capable of hitting Riyadh, Dubai and Abu Dhabi should violence escalate in Yemen's main port city of Hodeidah, where a fragile ceasefire is now in place, the leader of the Houthi movement said on Monday.

Yemen's four-year war pits the Iran-aligned Houthis against the internationally recognized government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, which is backed by a Saudi-led coalition forces of Yemeni and Arab countries like the United Arab Emirates.

"Our missiles are capable of reaching Riyadh and beyond Riyadh, to Dubai and Abu Dhabi," Abdul Malik al-Houthi told Houthi-run Masirah TV.

"It is possible to target strategic, vital, sensitive and influential targets in the event of any escalation in Hodeidah," he said. "We are able to strongly shake the Emirati economy."

Houthi forces regularly fire missiles into southern Saudi Arabia and occasionally aim for targets such as the capital Riyadh or facilities of state oil company Saudi Aramco. Most missiles have been intercepted by the Saudi military.

Houthi militants ride a pick-up light truck as they withdraw from the Red Sea port city of Hodeidah, December 29, 2018. /Reuters Photo

Hodeidah port is the entry point for most of Yemen's humanitarian aid and commercial imports. It is the current focal point of UN efforts to implement a December deal between the warring parties.

The UN is trying to get both sides to pull troops out of Hodeidah but the process has stalled. Both sides blame the other for lack of progress.

Although a ceasefire largely holds in Hodeidah, violence continues elsewhere and has escalated in recent weeks.

Plagued by decades of instability, Yemen's latest conflict began in late 2014 when Houthi forces drove Hadi's government out of the capital Sanaa. The Saudi-backed alliance intervened in March 2015 to restore Hadi's government.

Source(s): Reuters