Who Are Houthis And Why Are They Attacking Saudi Arabia?

Iran-backed Houthis have said they launched a new ballistic missile strike on Riyadh's King Khalid International Airport, while Saudi Arabia investigates how its air defences failed to intercept a barrage of attacks from Yemeni rebels. Houthi military spokesman Yahya Sarea said that the rebel group targeted the Riyadh airport with a ballistic missile, claiming the missile "accurately hit" the target, according to a report by the Xinhua News Agency. 

Houthis also claimed to have launched a drone attack on King Khalid Air Base in Khamis Mushait, southwestern Saudi Arabia, and said it scored a direct hit.

Meanwhile, the Saudi-led military coalition fighting the Houthis said that its forces intercepted a ballistic missile fired by the Iran-backed group at the capital, Riyadh. "Interception and destruction of a ballistic missile launched by the terrorist Houthi militia towards Riyadh," Major General Turki al-Malki, a spokesman for the coalition, wrote on X.

A Saudi official, speaking on condition of anonymity, also told the Associated Press that it is probing the recent attack, intending to find out why air defence systems did not provide earlier warning of the strikes in which the Houthi missiles and drones flew over 1,000 kilometres to reach Riyadh.

The incident, one of a string of Houthi attacks on Saudi airports since last week, has exposed vulnerabilities in Saudi Arabia's defence system and signalled a dangerous inflection point in an expanding Middle East conflict that began more than seven months ago when the US and Israel launched their war against Iran.

It also raises questions about who the Houthis are and why Saudi authorities are increasingly struggling to fight them. 

Also Read: Iran-Backed Houthis Claim Attack Targeting Riyadh Airport With Missile

Who Are the Houthis: The Origin

The Houthis are a military, political and religious movement that ‌rules over most of northwest Yemen and has disrupted global trade and energy markets with attacks on cargo ships and tankers in the Red Sea. The group emerged in far north Yemen in the 1990s as a revival movement for the Zaydi sect ⁠of Shi'ite Islam, which had once ruled Yemen but whose northern heartland had become impoverished and marginalised.

It fought a series of guerrilla wars against Yemen's national ​army and a brief border conflict with Sunni Saudi Arabia.

Photo Credit: Graphic generated by NDTV

When Yemen's long-time president Ali Abdullah Saleh was brought down in the 2011 "Arab Spring" protests, the group consolidated ​its control over northern Yemen, rejecting a Gulf-backed political transition. With Iranian support, the group's secretive leader, Abdul Malik al-Houthi, was meanwhile turning his faction of mountain fighters into a force of tens of thousands.

In 2014, they seized the capital Sanaa, driving the internationally recognised government south towards Aden.

The Houthi movement calls itself Ansar Allah ("Defenders of God"). The popularised term "Houthi movement" refers to its founder, the late leader, Hussein Badruddin Houthi.

Also Read: Why Saudi Arabia's $83 Billion Military Is Struggling Against Houthis

What's Behind The Houthi Conflict With Saudi?

Fearful of growing Iranian influence in Yemen and ​chaos on its borders, Saudi Arabia led a military intervention against the Houthis in early 2015 to dislodge the group, restore the government and revive the transition ​plan.

The resulting civil war triggered one of the world's biggest humanitarian crises and led to years of bitter fighting and devastating airstrikes by Saudi Arabia and its coalition partners, including the ‌United Arab ⁠Emirates.

However, neither side was able to gain much ground in Yemen's mountainous terrain, and the Houthis remained in control of the northwest, where most of the population lives. They demonstrated significant missile and drone capabilities, attacking oil installations and vital infrastructure in Saudi Arabia and the UAE.

After years of fighting, the UN brokered a 2022 truce between the warring sides in Yemen that maintained peace until this year.

Also Read: Saudi Crown Prince Moving Palace To Palace Amid Houthi Attacks: Report

The Shipping Threat

Houthis began firing on ships in the Red Sea and launching drones and missiles at Israel in November 2023, saying it was doing so in support of Palestinians during Israel's war in Gaza that began the previous month. 

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Those attacks on ​Red Sea shipping, as well as on Saudi Arabia, resumed this year in response to the United States' war on the Houthis' close ally Iran. After the US and Israeli forces launched a war against Iran, Tehran disrupted the shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, forcing Saudi Arabia to shift more oil exports via its Red Sea ports and the Bab al-Mandeb. 

This made Saudi energy infrastructure and shipping more vulnerable. In September 2026, Houthis seized strategic Perim Island, at the mouth of the Red Sea, along with the port town of Mocha, as it sought to take control of the Bab al-Mandeb strait, a key energy route to aid Iran in its fight.

Roughly 10 per cent to 12 per cent of total global maritime trade passes through the Strait.

Houthis blockade of the route significantly disrupted global ⁠trade via the Red Sea route, forcing cargo ships travelling between Europe and Asia to take a long, costly detour around Africa and adding to the global oil crisis.

The conflict intensified again in October 2026, as Saudi-backed Yemeni forces attempted to recapture territory from the Houthis, and Saudi Arabia resumed military operations against the group.

Saudi: The Global Energy Powerhouse

Saudi Arabia is one of the world's most powerful energy players and a major geopolitical force, primarily due to its oil dominance. In terms of overall world oil production, Saudi Arabia produces roughly 11 per cent of the global total. 

Photo Credit: Graphic generated by NDTV

The kingdom holds about 15 per cent to 17 per cent of the world's proven petroleum reserves. The oil and gas sector accounts for about 50 per cent of its GDP and roughly 70 per cent of its export earnings. 

Houthis' Strength 

Houthis control around a third of Yemeni territory, where nearly 70 per cent of the population resides. A September 2019 report estimates their strength at 180,000-200,000 armed men with access to weapons systems ranging from tanks and technical vehicles to anti-tank guided missiles and long-range ballistic missiles.

Their drones and missiles have reached as far as Israel and, as their accuracy has shown, can hit particular targets such as Saudi airports and oil facilities.

Houthis also have leverage over maritime trade as Yemen lies near the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, a vital passage connecting the Red Sea with the Gulf of Aden. 

Links With Iran

Iran champions the Houthis as part of its regional "Axis of Resistance", which also includes Lebanon's Hezbollah and Iraqi Shi'ite militias, though its ties with the Yemeni movement are less clear than with those other groups.

The Houthis do not recognise ⁠Iran's supreme ​leader as their ultimate religious authority, as Hezbollah and the Iraqi groups do. ​Their motivations are also mainly domestic, though they are ideologically aligned with Iran.

The US says Iran has armed, funded and trained the Houthis with help from Hezbollah. The Houthis deny being an Iranian ​proxy and say they develop their own weapons.

Why It's So Hard to Fight Houthis

Houthis operate from difficult mountain terrain and vast expanses of desert. Fighting has continued in desert terrains such as Shaab-al-Jinn in Lahj governorate, where pro-government forces backed by Saudi Arabia are battling the rebels.

The air strikes on Houthi hideouts have failed to dislodge the group that operates from difficult terrain.

The group also has a significant range of arsenals and has demonstrated that their drones and missiles can reach as far as Israel, some 2,000 km from Yemen, and can hit specific targets such as Saudi airports and oil facilities.

The group has been using weapons in concert, mixing drones and missiles of varying speeds to confound air defences. Among its most advanced options are medium-range ballistic missiles such as the Palestine-2, a two-stage solid fuel missile with hypersonic capabilities, and Toufan, which appears to be a rebranded Iranian Ghadr missile.

The rebels also have several short-range missiles, such as their Burkan and Badr series, which are believed to be of Iranian origin, according to a report by Al Jazeera. 
(With Reuters Inputs)