The UK is dispatching fighter jets and military transport aircraft to defend Saudi Arabia against attacks from Iran-backed Houthi Islamic terrorists of Yemen, boosting its ally after the kingdom has been pummelled by strikes from the militant group in recent weeks.
The Financial Times (FT) reports people familiar with the matter revealed Royal Air Force (RAF) Typhoon fighter jets will fly defence missions to shield Saudi cities and critical infrastructure from missile and drone attacks launched by the Yemen-backed group.
Defense Secretary Wes Streeting has confirmed RAF Typhoons will “conduct defensive counter-air operations over Saudi Arabia, helping to protect Saudi cities, civilian populations and critical national infrastructure from Houthi attack.”
An Atlas A400M transport aircraft to help move heavy equipment around the country, the FT report further notes.
As first reported by Bloomberg on Tuesday, the military involvement builds on UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham’s decision last month to send an RAF Voyager refuelling aircraft to Saudi Arabia.
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Britain had already deployed air-defence kit and UK military advisers to assist the kingdom with its defence against missile and drone attacks.
RAF air-to-air refuelling assets have also been sent. That mission is being extended by another 90 days, Streeting said.
Burnham strongly condemned the Houthis’ “appalling attacks” on an airport in Saudi Arabia earlier this month, as Breitbart News reported.
That strike killed at least 12 people, including an American, and wounded more than 300 others in a missile strike on Saudi Arabia’s busiest airport.
The assault was Saudi Arabia’s deadliest in more than a decade, according to the Wall Street Journal, and came amid an escalating Houthi missile campaign against the kingdom’s airports and other civilian infrastructure.
Burnham told the House of Commons the UK will “continue to stand with Saudi Arabia” in response to the attacks.
More to come…
