SANA’A (Dispatches) – The leader of Yemen’s Ansarullah his resistance Abdul-Malik al-Houthi says his country now has home-grown ballistic missiles that can defeat the U.S.-made missile systems owned by the Saudi-led coalition, al-Masirah TV reported.
“We now possess high-precision missiles that can cruise very long distances, and the new American system has failed to intercept them,” al-Houthi said when he addressed tribal leaders from Yemen’s southwestern province of Taizz, according to the report.
He said the main priority at the moment was “to counter the [Saudi-led] aggression”, as “military threats” persist and enemies continue to stockpile munitions to stoke “more tensions in the next phase,”
In January, Yemeni forces launched several rounds of missile and drone attacks against targets in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), which is more than 2,000 km away from Yemen. The attacks prompted fears that the resistance movement owns more powerful missiles that can reach farther targets.
The UAE has played a big role in the Saudi-led coalition.
Al-Houthi said, “Saudi Arabia reached out to all the countries in the world to acquire systems that can shoot down our missiles. It even had to beg the Israeli enemy for help.”
He added efforts are underway to incorporate cutting-edge technology into homegrown Yemeni combat drones and enhance the flight endurance of unmanned aerial vehicles.
“Attempts are also being made to develop our air defense capabilities, as we have managed to down all types of enemy drones in recent years,” he said.
Saudi Arabia launched the devastating war on Yemen in March 2015 in collaboration with its Arab allies and with arms and logistics support from the U.S. and other Western states.
The objective was to reinstall the Riyadh-friendly regime of Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi and crush Ansarullah, which has been running state affairs in the absence of a functional government in Yemen.
Al-Houthi pointed to the crimes of the Saudi-led coalition forces, stressing that the organized crimes of the alliance in the area and its strikes were aimed at the destruction of the infrastructure there will never be forgotten.