LONDON — Britain will deploy Royal Air Force Typhoon fighter jets to help defend Saudi Arabia against escalating missile and drone attacks by Yemen’s Houthis, the government said Tuesday, BBC News and Al Jazeera reported.
“The UK will fly defensive counter air missions to support the protection of Saudi cities and critical national infrastructure against aerial attack, using RAF Typhoon fighter jets,” the Ministry of Defence said. “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. The BBC said the mission was authorised by Prime Minister Andy Burnham.
Britain will also send military advisers and an RAF A400M transport aircraft to help move defence equipment within Saudi Arabia, and has extended its air-to-air refuelling support for Saudi defensive operations by 90 days, the BBC reported.
“The continuing attacks from the Houthis on our ally Saudi Arabia are absolutely despicable. The targeting of the airport in Riyadh in particular shows the lengths the Houthis are going to escalate the situation in the region,” Streeting said, as Al Jazeera reported. “That’s why today I have approved further UK military support.”
The Houthis said they were behind two strikes on Riyadh’s King Khalid International Airport on Oct. 10 and 11 that left 14 dead and more than 300 injured, according to the BBC. Earlier this month, Houthi military spokesman Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree vowed to continue “escalating operations deep inside Saudi Arabia.”
Streeting also pointed to violence in the Gulf disrupting energy supplies and raising costs for families and businesses. The announcement came a day after Egypt’s parliament delayed for a second day a vote on President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi’s request to authorise military support for Saudi Arabia; state media said a new session would be held on Oct. 26, Al Jazeera reported.
Sources: BBC News, Al Jazeera
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