Saudi State TV reporting that Saudi Arabia is expected to contribute 100 warplanes and 150,000 soldiers to the operation in Yemen. This is part of this military campaign which began few hours ago. These air strikes were ordered by the New King of Saudi Arabia at midnight last night local time in Saudi Arabia. The Saudis are saying that they want to support the legitimate government of Yemen, but they also see a very real threat from the Houthi rebels who have taken control of most of that country.
The Saudis and a number of other Arab countries believe that Houthis are in fact backed by Iranian regime and they see this as an attempt by the Iranian regime to establish a base of influence on the border of the Saudi Arabia, which is one of the triggers why this military action has taken place right now.
The Saudis did not say who is in that coalition, the word is that the number countries that are taking part are: Egypt, Morocco, Jordan, Sudan, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Bahrain according to Al-Arabia network. Also word is that Pakistan and Jordan and Sudan are also willing to contribute ground forces in any kind of ground offensive.
Another words, this is a major military operation which is now ramping up.
CNN says what the Saudis have seen over past couple of years is that Iranian regime has extended its influence into Iraq, into Syria, to Lebanon and now into Yemen. So this is the Saudi’s concern.
Col. Rick Francona, a military analyst told CNN that the Saudis are taking this very seriously by bringing about 150,000 ground troops and they are building a coalition to go inside Yemen and fix this problem. They have said that they are committed to restore the legitimate government of president Hadi of Yemen. So, it is going to take that kind of fire power to do this.
Col. Francona added the air strikes are just a kick off of the campaign. They want to knock down their air defenses and create a corridor with which they can move their troops in there. But nevertheless, this is going to be a major operation and is going to take time to get the troops inside the country. According to the military analyst, the planning for this operation has been going on for some times. If you just look at the stretch of the forces and the number of planes, it would be obvious that the planning has been going on for some times.