WW1 to Houthis: British jets for Saudi Arabia build on long military bond

The United Kingdom has announced it will deploy Royal Air Force Typhoon fighter jets to help defend Saudi Arabia from missile and drone attacks by Yemen’s Houthis, the armed group also known as Ansar Allah (Arabic for Supporters of God).The jets will play a “defensive role”, the British Ministry of Defence (MoD) said in a statement on Tuesday, adding that they will not carry out attacks against the Iranian-backed armed group.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemslist 1 of 4Iran sees ‘false flag’ operations after UK blames IRGC for airbase incidentlist 2 of 4UK spy chief says Iran is stepping up targeting of military baseslist 3 of 4UK to deploy Typhoon jets to help defend Saudi Arabia from Houthi attackslist 4 of 4UK police rearrest two men on suspicion of assisting Iran’s intelligenceend of listThe move comes amid heavy fighting between the Houthis and Yemen’s internationally recognised government, which is backed by Saudi Arabia.In recent weeks, the Houthis have carried out missile and drone attacks against the kingdom, including oil facilities and Riyadh’s main airport, while the Saudi-led coalition supporting the Yemeni government has launched air attacks on Houthi positions.The U...