Saudi Arabia and Sunni Coalition launches WAR on Houthis in Yemen; UPDATE: EGYPT DENIES SUPPORT

(UPDATED)

This is big news. Saudi Arabia and a Sunni coalition (UAE, Bahrain, Qatar and Kuwait) has now begun bombing Iranian-backed Houthis in Yemen:

AL ARABIYA – Warplanes of the Royal Saudi Air Force bombed the positions of Yemen’s Houthi militia and destroyed most of their air defenses, Al Arabiya News Channel reported early on Thursday.

Arab Gulf states had announced that they have decided to “repel Houthi aggression” in neighboring Yemen, following a request from the country’s President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi.

In their joint statement Saudi Arabia, UAE, Bahrain, Qatar and Kuwait said they “decided to repel Houthi militias, al-Qaeda and ISIS [Islamic State of Iraq and Syria] in the country.”

The Gulf states warned that the Houthi coup in Yemen represented a “major threat” to the region’s stability.

It also accused the Iranian-backed militia of conducting military drills on the border of Saudi Arabia, a leading member of the GCC, with “heavy weapons.”

In an apparent reference to Iran, the statement said the “Houthi militia is backed by regional powers in order for it be their base of influence.”

The Gulf states said they had monitored the situation and the Houthi coup in Yemen with “great pain” and accused the Shiite militia of failing to respond to warnings from the United Nations Security Council as well as the GCC.

Here’s a video (no audio) of Saudi jets taking off to go bomb Yemen:

Egypt has also declared their official support for this coalition and is currently in coordination with Saudi Arabia and the Sunni Coalition:

In response to a request from Yemen, Egypt declares to support both political and military steps taken by the coalition in support of a legitimate government in Yemen as part of it’s historic responsibility towards the security of Arab nationalism and the Arab Gulf region.

The statement also added that Egypt is in current coordination with Saudi Arabia and sister Gulf States regarding participation of Egypt’s Navy, Air Force and ground troops if necessary as part of the framework of the coalition, in defense of the security and stability of Yemen and to secure the unity of it’s land and the national spirit of a sister state.

 
UPDATED: Turns out Egypt is denying support for the Sunni coalition attack in Yemen:

A spokesman for Egypt’s Foreign ministry, Ambassador Badr Abdul Ati, denied what several media and TV announced regarding Egypt’s involvement in the war in Yemen.

In response to the statement attributed to the Yemeni Foreign Minister today that Egypt and the Gulf states agreed to intervene in Yemen, a spokesman for the Egyptian Foreign Ministry, Ambassador Badr Abdel Ati, said: “I do not know the content of this statement.”


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