One week ago when news hit that Houthi rebels had launched a rocket attack on a Saudi border town in what may be described as an act of sheer irrationality and one which like Assad's "chemical attack" of 2013 was almost certainly staged not so much by the Yemen rebels to provoke just the desired media response, we said that [5]"a Saudi response now appears just a matter of time, and one which the oil-trading algos are eagerly expecting, pushing Brent to within two dollars of $68." By response, we of course meant a land invasion since Saudi Arabia has already been bombing Yemen for nearly a month (a campaign focused on the Yemen rebels which mysteriously destroyed the residence [6]of Yemen's former anti-Saudi president Saleh [7]).
That "time" may have arrived, because as Al Arabiya reports, Saudi Arabia has announced that a "strike force has arrived on the border with Yemen, as the operation to quell Houthi militias in the country continues." Which is ironic considering it was just a few days ago [8]that Saudi Arabia declared a 5 day ceasefire, one which was promptly accepted by Houthis, and one which appears to have been taken straight from the Ukraine civil war "ceasefire" playbook.
[9]
More from Al Arabiya:
Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz said Sunday that the Saudi-led air war was launched to foil a plot by a “sectarian group” to undermine security in the region.
The Saudi monarch was defending the military operation Riyadh has led against Yemeni militia since March 26, in an address read to clerics on his behalf by an adviser in the Muslim holy city of Makkah.
Meanwhile, Yemen’s deposed president Ali Abdullah Saleh Monday declared his support for Houthi militias after raids from the Saudi-led coalition on his house in Sanaa.
“I was not an ally of Ansar Allah [the Houthis ] but today I am announcing from this place that Yemenis will be supportive of anyone who defends the nation’s resources,” the deposed leader said.
Well, Saleh may want to say goodbye to any other assets he may have left in Yemen: they are about to be vaporized. As for next steps, the only question is how algos react to flashing red headlines that Saudi tanks, APCs and troops have finally entered Yemen.
