Houthis Fire a Dozen Explosive Drones in 24 Hours, Coalition Says

The Saudi-led coalition battling the Iran-backed Houthis over control of Yemen on Sunday said it intercepted five armed drones launched by the movement at Saudi targets. A day earlier, the coalition claimed seven additional drones had been shot down on their way to cities in southern Saudi Arabia. The back-to-back attacks represent a significant uptick in launches by the Shi’ite movement, which controls Sanaa and much of northern Yemen after ousting President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi in 2015. Recent weeks have also seen attempted drone strikes in Riyadh itself. Last week, US President Joe Biden slapped sanctions on two senior Houthi military commanders, reiterating his promise to defend Saudi Arabia from the group’s hostilities. The president, however, also revoked his predecessor’s last-minute decision to designate the Houthis as a terror organization, and halted Washington’s support for the Saudi-led coalition’s activities. Yemen is mired in what the United Nations considers the worst humanitarian crisis in the world today.