Britain sends RAF Typhoons to defend Saudi Arabia from Houthi attacks

Britain will deploy RAF Typhoon jets to Saudi Arabia to defend the kingdom from Houthi missile and drone attacks, Defense Secretary Wes Streeting announced on Tuesday. The aircraft will fly defensive patrols over Saudi cities and will not conduct offensive strikes; Britain is also sending military advisers and an A400M transport aircraft to move defense equipment inside the kingdom.

The deployment follows the deadliest attack since Yemen's civil war reignited three months ago. A Houthi missile strike on the al-Alam training camp in Shabwa province killed 73 new recruits on Monday, all aged between 18 and 20, and wounded more than 200. The recruits were lining up in formation when the missiles hit, according to videos from the scene analyzed by the Associated Press; some were still missing a day later. The provincial government said the Houthis fired three ballistic missiles at the camp, which sits on a supply line to the government-held province of Marib and was previously used by a militia backed by the United Arab Emirates. At least 15 of the dead came from the Awlaqi tribe and 16 from the Maraziq, an official said. Shabwa, Marib and Hadramawt form what the government calls its triangle of power, containing the country's oil and gas production.

The war resumed in July, when government forces and the Saudi-led coalition struck Houthi-held Sanaa International Airport, shattering a 2022 ceasefire that had largely kept the fighting down. The Houthis have since hit Riyadh's King Khalid International Airport twice this month — 13 people killed and 308 injured on October 10 and 11 — and on Tuesday Saudi authorities issued an attack warning for the capital before intercepting a ballistic missile; an explosion was heard in northern Riyadh, where the airport lies.

Washington is supplying everything except soldiers. Tom Barrack, the US envoy to Syria and Iraq, told the Global Security Forum in Doha that the United States is not prepared to send troops, that President Trump supports Saudi Arabia with logistical backing, and that "America getting involved in a ground kinetic battle elsewhere seems fruitless." Riyadh has struggled to counter the Houthi attacks even with far superior American-supplied arms. Britain, which had previously offered to refuel Saudi aircraft in flight, now patrols their skies.

Shabwa's governor, Awad Ibn al-Wazir, said the dead recruits were being trained to provide security in the province — the camp, he said, had nothing to do with the front lines.