Yemen
...an area of the Arabian Peninsula sometimes mistaken for a country. It is populated by more antagonistic tribes and factions than you can keep track of...
’s Iran's Houthi sock puppets
...a Zaidi Shia insurgent group operating in Yemen. They have also been referred to as the
Believing Youth. Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi is said to be the spiritual leader of the group and most of the military leaders are his relatives. The legitimate Yemeni government has accused the them of having ties to the Iranian government. Honest they did. The group has managed to gain control over all of Saada Governorate and parts of Amran, Al Jawf and Hajjah Governorates. Its slogan is
God is Great, Death to Americaâ„¢, Death to Israel, a curse on the JewsThey like shooting off... ummm... missiles that they would have us believe they make at home in their basements. On the plus side, they did murder Ali Abdullah Saleh, which was the only way the country was ever going to be rid of him...
s on Thursday attacked a military headquarters at the presidential palace in Aden, which also serves as the seat of the internationally recognized government, killing at least four as fighting within the country and rebel attacks on Saudi Arabia
...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula, largely made up of sand and oil rigs. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual haj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. Formerly dictatorial and steeped in Olde Tyme Religion, deferring to Salafist holy men on all issues, it has now done a 180 and is making a serious effort to modernize, so as not to be left in the sand by its Gulf Arab neighbors. The holy men have been shoved to the background and the nation is now still dictatorial but somewhat rational. That doesn't make them trustworthy, but it's a start...continued to escalate.
The pro-Iranian fighters targeted "the headquarters of military operations, led by Saudi officers, at the al-Maashiq Palace in Aden, as well as weapons depots belonging to them," according to the rebel group’s news agency.
At least four people were killed and 10 more maimed in the Houthi missile attack, three government military sources told AFP.
At least six explosions struck near the palace, witnesses said.
The explosions caused panic among residents who fled the area. A security official said at least two of the earth-shattering kabooms were on top of the hill near the Maashiq palace, and two others were heard near the security gate.
Many of the government leadership are living in exile, and those in Aden were safe, a government official said, speaking on condition of anonymity
... for fear of being murdered...
because they were not authorized to speak to the media.
Separately, the forces of Yemen’s internationally recognized government said that the Houthis had fired ballistic missiles at the central city of Marib, which sits in a strategic oil-rich region.
"Houthi terrorist militias fired several ballistic missiles at the densely populated city of Marib," the government forces said on X.
Separately, the Saudi -led coalition fighting the Iranian-backed rebels said Thursday it thwarted a missile attack on Saudi Arabia’s holy city of Medina as well as another attack in the eastern part of the kingdom.
The Saudi-led coalition said in a statement that it intercepted and destroyed a cruise missile over the province of Medina, but notably did not assign blame for the attack.
Shortly after the coalition’s statement, the Houthi military spokesperson said Saudi airspace and airports were unsafe, renewing a warning to airlines while excluding airspace over the holy cities of Mecca and Medina.
The international airport in the capital, Riyadh, has suspended service because of Houthi attacks.
Earlier Thursday, Saudi Arabia also said it destroyed a drone over the country’s Eastern province, a major oil-producing region.
The latest conflict between the Saudis and the Houthis began last month after the rebels seized key areas along the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, a critical waterway for Gulf oil shipments. The Saudi-led coalition, backing forces aligned with Yemen’s internationally recognized government, has been trying to retake those areas.
The Houthis have been firing ballistic missiles and drones at key Saudi sites for a week, in response to the kingdom’s backing of government forces in Yemen’s renewed civil war.
Saudi coalition spokesperson Turki al-Maliki said at a presser on Thursday that the Houthis had launched 20 attacks on King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh this month, killing 17 people and wounding 333 others. The airport, one of Saudi Arabia’s main international aviation hubs, was among the civilian infrastructure targeted in what the coalition described as a series of attacks.
The coalition also said Houthi attacks on Abha airport, in southwestern Saudi Arabia near the Yemeni border, had killed three people and maimed 28.
Maliki said the Houthis had acquired advanced military technology with the help of "regional actors," including ballistic missiles, drones and explosive-laden fast boats.
The spokesperson also said the coalition had destroyed 127 weapons storage facilities and launch platforms in Yemen’s mountainous areas.
He called on the Houthis to immediately halt operations targeting civilians and civilian infrastructure, and said the group should read the coalition’s statement carefully and "between the lines."
Yemen has been mired in conflict since the Houthis seized the capital Sanaa in 2014, prompting a Saudi-led military intervention the following year. The UN-brokered truce in 2022 largely halted major fighting, and a de facto truce held even after it expired six months later. But efforts to turn it into a lasting political settlement have stalled as regional tensions have intensified.