UK to refuel Saudi jets to help counter Houthi attacks
British Prime Minister Andy Burnham says he has agreed to a request for 'defensive' air-to-air refuelling of Saudi jets.
The United Kingdom has agreed to provide limited military support to Saudi Arabia to help it repel attacks by Yemen’s Houthis, according to British Prime Minister Andy Burnham.
Speaking to reporters as he flew to the United Nations General Assembly in New York on Monday, Burnham said he had agreed that the Royal Air Force would provide air-to-air refuelling of Saudi planes.
“We have received a request from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for military support, and on the advice of the defence secretary and the foreign secretary, last night I agreed to that request for defensive air-to-air refuelling,” he said.
They have also advanced inside Yemen, seizing the crucial port city of Mocha and key Red Sea islands, allowing them to better monitor shipping traffic through the Bab al-Mandeb, through which some 12 percent of world trade normally passes.