Russian Missile Fired from Yemen at Saudi Positions

According to media close to the Houthi forces in Yemen, for the first time, a Russian-made ballistic missile that has been upgraded in Yemen was fired at military positions in Saudi Arabia. The Saba news agency, affiliated with the Houthi forces engaged with the Yemeni government, reported that a military source announced on Sunday, December 22, that a surface-to-surface ballistic missile of the 'Qaher-1' type was launched at the 'Khalid bin Abdulaziz' military base in the 'Khamis Mushait' region in southern Saudi Arabia, and this missile hit its target precisely. The military source noted that this is the first time this type of missile has been used, stating that the fired missile struck the target with high accuracy and caused significant damage to the Khalid bin Abdulaziz airbase. The 'Qaher-1' is a ballistic surface-to-surface missile developed by Russia, and Yemeni sources claim it has been 'upgraded inside Yemen.' This missile is 11 meters long, weighs 2 tons, and has a range of 250 kilometers. There has been no news on how the Houthis obtained this Russian-made missile. There have not been many reports regarding recent arms connections between Russia and the Houthi forces. The Saudi-led coalition has been conducting attacks on the positions of the Iran-backed Houthi Shiite militants and supporters of Ali Abdullah Saleh for the past eight months. According to the United Nations, the civil war in Yemen has resulted in nearly six thousand deaths during this period, and half of the country's population is at risk of famine. Although UN efforts to end the civil war in Yemen have not yielded results so far, recently, the warring parties in Yemen agreed to establish a temporary ceasefire and resume peace talks. Accordingly, representatives of the warring parties, including envoys from Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi, the President, and representatives from the Houthi forces and supporters of Ali Abdullah Saleh, the former President, are set to meet in Switzerland starting Tuesday, December 15. The parties have announced that they will adhere to a temporary ceasefire starting Monday, while Saudi Arabia, which leads the Arab coalition in support of Mansur Hadi's government, has accepted this ceasefire conditionally upon Mansur Hadi's agreement. The first round of peace talks in Yemen was held in Geneva last June but ended without results.