Houthi militias in Yemen have targeted Saudi residential areas across the border in a series of attacks this week and will have to pay a heavy price for their transgression, the Kingdom has said.
Brig. Gen. Ahmad Al-Asiri, spokesman of the coalition and adviser at the office of the minister of defense, said coalition forces will deliver “painful response” to attacks on Saudi areas.
The coalition, Asiri said, will target Houthi leaders.
“The equation has now changed. The operation had been aimed at protecting the legitimacy in Yemen and the Yemeni people. The confrontation is now targeting the border of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the safety and security of Saudi cities,” Al-Asiri said in a statement broadcast live on television on Thursday.
“Coalition forces will deliver a harsh response starting this moment, so that those who carried out this operation will pay the price,” he said, adding that there would be no boundaries to the response.
The spokesman said the city of Sa'dah and its outskirts are “the targeted areas from this moment onwards (Thursday evening).”
The Houthi hideouts in the city and its surrounding areas will relentlessly be struck for 24 hours, he said.
Meanwhile, Deputy Crown Prince Muhammad Bin Salman, second deputy premier and minister of defense, chaired a meeting of senior commanders of the armed forces in Riyadh.
The commanders briefed the deputy crown prince on the progress so far in the operation at the southern borders. After reviewing the future course of military action in this regard, Prince Muhammad directed the commanders to safeguard the security and safety of the Kingdom's borders and push back the aggressor with all available means.
