Saudi Arabia launches airstrikes on Houthis in Yemen
In depth
Issue 990
- 03 Apr 2015
| 7 minute read
At midnight on 25 March, Saudi Arabia’s King Salman Bin Abdelaziz Al-Saud gave the order for Saudi jets to begin a campaign of airstrikes against Houthi targets in Yemen. Riyadh’s uncharacteristically assertive intervention in Yemen’s crisis, at the head of a ten-strong coalition of Sunni allies, came at the request of embattled Yemeni President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, but represents above all else Riyadh’s conviction that the Houthis’ backer Iran must be stopped. Operation Decisive Storm is both a departure from normal practice for Saudi Arabia – whose military interventions in recent years have been far more low key – and a significant gamble, given the complexity of Yemen’s crisis.
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