1. Yemen’s civil war began in 2014 when Houthi insurgents—Shiite rebels with links to Iran and a history of rising up against the Sunni government—took control of Yemen’s capital and largest city, Sana'a.
2. The United Nations, which appointed a new
special envoy for Yemen in 2018, has attempted to broker a cease-fire but the civil war has dragged on without end between the Saudi backed Yemen Government and the Houthis. See the backgrounders (including this April 2010 Carnegie pdf:
War in Saada - From Local Insurrection to National Challenge and this Feb 2020 MEI article:
The UAE may have withdrawn from Yemen, but its influence remains strong). On 28 Mar 2020, the Houthis have resumed firing missiles at Riyadh with Tehran’s technological assistance.
3. Given this latest attack in the middle of a global pandemic, Yemen's Huthi rebels will get no sympathy from me from this point going forward (if there is a coronavirus outbreak in Yemen).
4. Saudi forces intercepted and destroyed two ballistic missiles launched by Iran-backed Houthi militia, targeting:
- the Saudi capital Riyadh and
- the southern city of Jazan,
late Saturday (28 Mar 2020) Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported quoting a statement from the coalition forces. Two missiles were intercepted and destroyed above Riyadh and Jazan, Turki Al-Malki, the spokesman of the coalition, was quoted as saying.
5. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack, but Yemen's Iran-aligned Huthi rebels have previously targeted Riyadh and other Saudi cities with missiles, rockets and drones. It was the first major assault on Saudi Arabia since the Huthis offered last September to halt attacks on the kingdom after devastating twin strikes on Saudi oil installations.
