Sudan joins Saudi offensive against Yemeni rebels

Sudanese officials confirmed today that Sudan joined the military operation led by Saudi Arabia on the Houthi rebels in Yemen, who have been in control of the capital Sanaa since September 2014.

The decision to participate in the Saudi military campaign against the Shiite Yemeni militants was based on “the historical close ties” between Sudan and Saudi Arabia, and “the danger that threatens all of the region and Saudi Arabia specifically”, Foreign Affairs Minister Ali Karti told Sudan News Agency.

The spokesman for the Sudan Armed Forces, El Sawarmi Khaled Saad, said in a statement that “in the context of the intimate relations between the two brotherly countries of Sudan and Saudi Arabia, and based on our responsibility as Muslims to protect the land of the Two Holy Mosques,” the Sudanese government decided to join the Saudi “Storm of Resolve” operation.

Sudan will provide ground troops and fighter jets, Abdelrahim Hussein, the Minister of Defence, said at a press conference in Khartoum today.

Saudi Arabia announced that they initiated the military campaign upon the request of besieged Yemeni President Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi.

Eight other countries, including Bahrain, Qatar, and Egypt, are supporting the Saudi offensive, which started with air raids targeting Houthi strongholds in Sanaa late on Wednesday evening.