Riyadh says it intercepted six ballistic missiles as Yemen’s Houthis claimed attacks on “sensitive sites”
France will deploy troops, radar and air-defense systems to Saudi Arabia to protect a key Red Sea oil hub as Riyadh struggles to contain escalating Houthi missile and drone attacks, President Emmanuel Macron has announced.
Macron claimed that French forces would not join the fighting but would merely protect the strategic energy facility under an agreement finalized with Riyadh. The announcement came hours after the Saudi-led coalition said it had intercepted six ballistic missiles heading toward Taif, which hosts a key Saudi air base, and the strategic port city of Yanbu.
“We are going to send military resources, that is to say, soldiers, radar systems and defense systems, to protect the site of Yanbu,” Macron told TF1 and France 2 on Thursday.
Macron said the Yanbu hub, which handles several million barrels of oil, had been “very badly damaged” in previous attacks. The Red Sea port has become increasingly important for Saudi exports as the US-Iran war severely restricts tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz.
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