Saudi Arabia has asked Pakistan and other friendly nations for military assistance after repeated missile and drone attacks by Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthi rebels depleted its stockpile of interceptor missiles.
The Wall Street Journal reported on the 12th, citing Saudi officials and other people familiar with the matter, that Riyadh is seeking to obtain additional air defense systems from abroad to strengthen its air defense network.
Saudi Arabia is struggling to shield its vast territory with the air defenses it has. The kingdom is redeploying air defense batteries across regions to give priority to protecting royal palaces and key energy infrastructure. Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has been moving between palaces equipped with bunkers and is guarded by a security team he personally selected, the Journal said.
Along with its request to Pakistan, a military ally, Saudi Arabia is pursuing air defense weapons from other countries. It is also weighing plans to recruit foreign fighters to support Yemeni government forces in their campaign against the Houthis, according to the report.
The United States, the kingdom's most important military ally, has been cautious about direct military involvement. The Journal reported that the crown prince asked Washington for military support to retake territory the Houthis have seized in Yemen, but that the United States declined and instead sent military advisers to assist Saudi operations.
Some international affairs and military experts say Saudi Arabia underestimated the risk that the Houthis would widen their offensive. As recently as this summer, the Saudi government judged the conflict with the Houthis to be manageable. The rebels' attacks then intensified, and the kingdom lost a strategic foothold on Yemen's Red Sea coast and has since seen its own airports and oil facilities come under attack.
In August, the Houthis stepped up their offensive around the Bab el-Mandeb strait, the critical maritime passage linking the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, and seized the strategic port city of Mocha and other areas. Saudi Arabia withheld air support from Yemeni government forces at the time out of concern that the conflict would escalate. The Houthis used that window to secure key positions along the Red Sea coast, increasing the threat to Saudi crude oil shipping routes.
Attacks on Saudi soil have grown more severe in recent days. On the 10th, the Houthis struck King Khalid International Airport in the capital, Riyadh, killing 13 people and injuring more than 300. The same airport was attacked again the following day, leaving one person dead and 11 injured.
"The Houthis are targeting not only airports but also Saudi Arabia's core energy infrastructure, including refineries and the east-west oil pipeline," the Journal reported, adding that rising defense spending, damage to energy facilities and a contraction in the tourism and aviation industries are compounding fiscal pressure on the kingdom.