The conflict between Saudi Arabia and the Iran-backed Houthis is “entering a new phase,” one security expert warned, after Houthi fighters struck Riyadh and its airport over the weekend and the State Department issued a region-wide security alert for US citizens.
“Now, the Houthis have truly been activated,” said Dale Buckner, a former Green Beret and CEO of security firm Global Guardian.
He cited the Houthis’ growing control of the Red Sea and Bab el-Mandeb Strait and intensifying strikes on Saudi infrastructure as signs of a “likely escalation on the horizon.”
As Saudi Arabia weighs a response — and seeks US backing — a renewed campaign against the Houthis may have limits.
“Are we going to destroy the Houthis in one fell swoop? That is not going to happen because they are light, because they’re buried in the mountains, and because they can hide,” Buckner said. “This is a very difficult military force to destroy from conventional means from the air and the sea only.”