2018 Riyadh missile strike | |
---|---|
Part of the Yemeni Civil War (2014–present) and the Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen | |
Location | |
Date | 26 March 2018 |
Executed by | Houthis |
Casualties | One killed Two injured |
The 2018 Riyadh missile strike was a series of seven missiles launched into Saudi Arabia by Shiite Houthi rebels on 26 March 2018, targeting the King Khalid International Airport and other sites. Saudi forces claimed to have destroyed all seven missiles, three of them targeting Riyadh, two targeting Jazan, and one targeting Najran. [1] [2] However, according to Jeffrey Lewis, director of the East Asia Nonproliferation Program at CNS, the Saudis failed to intercept the missiles following a malfunction of the MIM-104 Patriot system. [3] One video appeared to show a Patriot missile launch on Sunday night go rapidly wrong, with the missile changing course midair, crashing into a neighborhood in Riyadh and exploding. Another appeared to detonate shortly after being launched in the Saudi capital.
The news channel, Al Arabiya, aired footage that it said showed Patriot missile batteries firing at the incoming Houthi missiles. Online videos showed what appeared to be a missile fuselage lying on a street in Riyadh.
The UN Security Council condemned the attack. [4] An Egyptian man was killed and two others were wounded when a fragment of one of the missiles over Riyadh fell over a neighborhood. [5]
Al Masirah, a Houthi-run satellite news channel, identified some of the missiles fired as the Burkan, or Volcano missile. The United Nations, Western countries and the Saudi-led military coalition fighting in Yemen all said the Burkan mirrors characteristics of an Iranian Qiam ballistic missile. They said that suggests Iran either shared the technology or smuggled disassembled missiles to the Houthis, who then rebuilt them.[ citation needed ]
A spokesperson for the embassy of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia said "seven ballistic missiles were shot toward Saudi Arabia from within Yemen." A press conference was held the same day at 1 p.m. "to provide more details about this aggressive act." [6]
The Houthi movement, officially known as Ansar Allah, is a Shia Islamist political and military organization that emerged from Yemen in the 1990s. It is predominantly made up of Zaidi Shias, with their namesake leadership being drawn largely from the Houthi tribe.
A Scud missile is one of a series of tactical ballistic missiles developed by the Soviet Union during the Cold War. It was exported widely to both Second and Third World countries. The term comes from the NATO reporting name attached to the missile by Western intelligence agencies. The Russian names for the missile are the R-11, and the R-17Elbrus. The name Scud has been widely used to refer to these missiles and the wide variety of derivative variants developed in other countries based on the Soviet design.
The Qiam 1 is a short-range ballistic missile designed and built by Iran. It was developed from the Iranian Shahab-2, a licensed copy of the North Korean Hwasong-6, all of which are versions of the Soviet Scud-C missile. The Qiam 1 entered service in 2010, with a range of 800 km (500 mi) and 100 m (330 ft) (CEP) accuracy.
The Ya-Ali is an air-launched cruise missile (ALCM) built by Iran. The missile was first unveiled on 11 May 2014 when Iranian leader Grand Ayatollah Ali Khamenei visited the Aerospace Force of the Army of the Guardians of the Islamic Revolution. According to Janes Defence, the missile has a jet engine inlet and possibly uses a version of the Toloue-4 turbojet or different Toloue 10 or 13 engines Iran produces for its longer-range anti-ship missiles and it is reported to have a range of 700 km. On February 7, 2015, Iran's Deputy Defense Minister Mohammad Eslami announced that the missile could previously be launched from only Mirage type fighter planes but it can now be launched from every fighter plane that Iran owns. It is named after a Shi'i religious expression beseeching imam Ali. As an ALCM, the Ya-Ali is distinct from the ground launched cruise missiles (GLCMs) in the Houthi inventory. According to Jane's Defense Weekly, the Houthis may have used a Quds 1 GLCM in the Abha International Airport attack on 12 June 2019. This airport in southwestern Saudi Arabia is less than 200 km from the Yemeni border. The Iranian Ya-Ali has a much longer range due to being imparted with much more kinetic and potential energy when released from a fighter aircraft such as the Mirage type. The Houthis have no fighter aircraft in their inventory.
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The Burkan-2H, or Volcano-2H is a mobile short-range ballistic missile used by the Houthis militants in Yemen. The Volcano H-2 was first launched in July 2017. It is related to the Scud missile family.
The Burkan-1 or Volcano-1 is a mobile short-range ballistic missile used by the Houthis in Yemen. It is related to the Scud missile family.
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Events in the year 2022 in Saudi Arabia.