2024-09-17 17:15:33
Sana: Yemen’s Houthi rebels have shocked Israel and the world with their attack. On Sunday, a missile fired by the Houthis fell near Israel’s commercial center Tel Aviv. Taking responsibility for the attack, Houthi leader Abdul Malik Al-Houthi said that we attacked with a ballistic missile, which has successfully penetrated Israel’s air defense system. No one was killed in this attack but it has increased tensions in West Asia, where the situation is already fragile due to the Gaza war. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has also said in his statement that the Houthi rebels will have to pay a heavy price for the attack. According to NDTV report, the missile attack by the Houthis has caused minor damage but it cannot be underestimated. The way the Houthis have carried out the missile attack has raised questions as to how a militia in war-torn Yemen has acquired the ability to carry out such long-range missile attacks. The report says that Iran is behind the Houthis’ ability to acquire and launch ballistic missiles. The Houthis, who grew rapidly in Yemen in the 1990s, have relied on three sources to build their missile arsenal since Yemen’s civil war broke out in 2015. This includes Yemeni government weapons, war spoils and help from Iran.
Capture of Yemeni government missiles
Yemen was divided into north and south during the Cold War, and both sides received military assistance from the competing superpowers. The Yemeni government first acquired Scud missiles from the Soviet Union in the 1970s. In subsequent years, ballistic and surface-to-air missiles also entered Yemen’s military arsenal, including missiles from North Korea and Iran as well as Saudi Arabia and the United States. Between 2004 and 2010, the Houthis repeatedly looted government arsenals and gained access to missiles and other major weapons. Their missile capability grew rapidly after the Houthis allied themselves with former Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh in 2015.
The Houthis are considered to have strong support from Iran. The Houthis have relied heavily on Iran since the beginning of the civil war in Yemen. The Houthis have not only received missiles and weapons from Iran but have also been receiving training. Iran has not openly accepted its support to the Houthis, but the US and its allies claim that they have stopped Iranian missile shipments on their way to Yemen several times. It is claimed that the Houthis have received surface-to-air missiles like the Burkan series, Quds-1 cruise missile and Sayyad-2C from Iran. These missiles have increased the long-range strike capability of the Houthis.
Weapons obtained as loot in war
The Saudi-led coalition supporting Yemen’s internationally recognised government has also inadvertently provided weapons to the Houthis. The Houthis have seized rocket launchers, anti-tank missiles and other equipment from Saudi forces and their allies during the war. The Houthis captured a shipment of RPG-26 variants after a Saudi coalition air-drop accident in 2015. The Houthis have developed unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in recent years. Drones have also now become an important part of their arsenal.