UK to deploy jets to defend Saudi Arabia from Houthi attacks

The UK will deploy RAF Typhoon jets to defend Saudi Arabia in response to escalating Houthi missile and drone attacks, the government has said.

The defensive mission will help defend Saudi cities and infrastructure - a move authorised by Prime Minister Andy Burnham - against aerial attacks by the Iran-backed group.

It follows Houthi attacks on the Saudi capital Riyadh, as well as on energy sites on the country's coast.

"These aircraft will operate in a defensive role and will not conduct offensive strikes against the Houthis," Defence Secretary Wes Streeting said in a written statement on Tuesday.

The Houthis are locked in a civil war with Yemen's internationally recognised government, which is backed by Saudi Arabia and were ousted by the group from capital, Sanaa, in 2014.

Since September, Saudi Arabia has been struggling to defend its skies from Houthi attacks after a ceasefire of sorts in Yemen broke down.

The Houthis launched a fresh offensive against Yemen's officially recognised government and seized effective control of the crucial Bab al Mandab strait.

Government forces - backed by Saudi aircover - mounted a counter offensive and the Houthis in turn struck targets deep in Saudi territory.

The Houthis successfully hit Saudi infrastructure including the King Khalid airport, energy facilities and key ports.

Saudi authorities said last week that 19 people had been killed in Houthi attacks on the kingdom's airports.

One missile strike on Riyadh's international airport on 10 October killed 13 people and injured 308 others – the deadliest attack in Saudi Arabia in more than a decade.

Houthis have been retaliating for strikes on territory that they control in western Yemen, including the capital Sanaa.

More than 70 security personnel were killed earlier this week in a Houthi missile strike on a camp in Yemen's central province of Shabwa.

A spokesman for the Saudi-backed Yemeni armed forces said the Iran-backed group launched three ballistic missiles at al-Alam camp near Ataq city.

The Houthis' military spokesman said they had targeted "Saudi enemy concentrations".

According to the Houthi-run health ministry in north-western Yemen, Saudi air and artillery strikes have killed at least 141 people and injured 395 since 3 September.

The government's health ministry, meanwhile, said last week that at least 1,282 people had been killed in the conflict across Yemen since 6 August.

Saudi Arabia has struggled to bring down incoming missiles and drones because so much of its air defence capability was used up against Iranian attacks earlier this year.

The sheer size of the country also makes it hard to provide comprehensive air defence.

The UK warplanes will not only help Saudi Arabia defend its skies, but they will also free up the country's own aircraft to carry out offensives strikes against the Houthis.

The UK will also deploy military advisers and an RAF A400M transport aircraft to support the movement of defence equipment within Saudi Arabia.

It is already providing Saudi Arabia with defence support equipment to protect against aerial attacks and air-to-air refuelling for defensive Saudi operations. The refuelling has now been extended by 90 days.

In a separate statement, Streeting said the targeting of Riyadh airport "shows the lengths the Houthis are going to escalate the situation in the region".

"That's why today I have approved further UK military support," the defence secretary added.

Streeting also pointed to violence in the Gulf disrupting energy supplies and increasing costs for families and businesses.

Earlier this month, Houthi military spokesman Brig Gen Yahya Saree vowed to continue the "escalating operations deep inside Saudi Arabia".