Saudi Arabia’s controversial operations against the Houthi rebels in Yemen have involved a coalition of Gulf and Arab air arms. Arnaud Delalande provides an air power assessment.
Arnaud Delalande
The Ansar Allah rebel group – also known as the Houthis – took control of the Yemeni capital Sana’a in September 2014. Prime Minister Mohammed Basindawa resigned and the Houthis signed a deal with an alliance of other political parties to establish a new, unity government. On March 26, 2015, in response to an appeal from President Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi, whose government the rebels had deposed, Saudi Arabia launched a military intervention in Yemen. This was undertaken by a coalition of nine Gulf and Arab states and involved air strikes and an aerial and naval blockade of Yemen.
