Houthis unveil four new air defence systems

The Houthis announced on Sunday in the Yemeni capital, Sanaa, the unveiling of four new air defence systems.

The Houthi news agency, Saba, stated that the head of the Supreme Political Council of the group, Mahdi Al-Mashat, unveiled four new air defence systems in the Yemeni capital, Sanaa.

The newspaper added that the new systems, called “Saqib 1, Saqib 2, Saqib 3 and Fatir 1”, were developed with pure Yemeni expertise.

Saba said that these systems would change the course of the battle with the Arab Coalition and government forces.

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“This achievement will represent a qualitative addition to the development and modernisation courses of defence capabilities,” the agency quoted Al-Mashat.

He added that “these new defence systems will change the course of the battle and will be a prelude to more developed and effective defence systems in confronting hostile air targets.”

For more than five years, Yemen has been witnessing a violent war that has created one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises, with 80 per cent of the population in need of humanitarian aid.

The United Nations says that the Yemeni conflict has led to the death of 70,000 people, while previous human rights reports have estimated that the conflict has led to the killing of at least 100,000 Yemenis.

Since March 2015, the Saudi-led Arab Coalition has been carrying out military operations in Yemen, in support of government forces in the face of the Iran-backed Houthis who have been controlling several governorates, including the capital, Sanaa, since 2014.

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