Saturday’s interception of an apparent drone overflight in the Saudi capital of Riyadh, which officials had suggested was an attack by Yemen’s Houthi movement, is being claimed by another, unrelated party.
Alwiya al-Waad al-Haq, an Iraqi Shi’ite militia group which is party of the PMF, has issued a statement claiming credit for the failed attack, saying it was retaliation for the Saudis supporting ISIS and other Islamist groups.
Early reports suggested the Riyahd effort may have been drone or missile, and it delayed some flights out of the Saudi capital. Locals reported a loud explosion, the apparent interception.
Officials wanted to assume the Houthis were responsible and wanted to make it at least somewhat about Iran. The Iraqi militia is believed to have some ties to Iran, but how much so is unclear, as officials try to pin everything on Iran as a matter of course.
The Houthis have historically gone after airports, which is why flights were delayed. The Iraq group says their drones were after al-Yammah Palace and other targets.
Iraq (and Iran) may have done the 2019 oil facilities attack in Saudi Arabia, since the latter estimated that the attack came from the north and east despite the Houthi claim that they did it from the south. It’s only about 600 miles from Baghdad to Riyadh, similar to Iran and Yemen. . . . Saudi is surrounded on three sides by enemies, that’s a good thing.