Saudi Arabia maintains first place in military imports in the world while losing in Yemen
Saudi Arabia has maintained first place in military imports globally while it continues to fail to achieve any victory in its war on Yemen.
A study issued by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute Sipri revealed that Saudi Arabia and India are equally ranked first in the world for imports with 6% each.
According to the study, Egypt ranked second with a rate of 5.7%, then Australia and China (4.8%).
Europe has achieved the largest growth in the arms trade during the past five years, a trend that is expected to accelerate as a number of countries on the continent announce the strengthening of armaments in the face of the new Russian threat.
The study showed that during the period 2017-2021, the global arms trade declined by 4.6 per cent from the previous five years but increased by 19 per cent in the European continent.
In light of the fears raised by the Russian invasion of Ukraine, it is scheduled to provide the armies of European countries with warplanes, led by modern and expensive American F-35 aircraft, missiles, artillery and other heavy equipment.
According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, the Asia and Oceania region has remained the number one importer during the past five years with 43% of arms shipments, and it contains six of the ten largest importers, namely India, Australia, China, South Korea, Pakistan and Japan.
The Middle East is the second arms market globally with a 32% share of global imports, an increase of 3%, particularly by Qatar’s investments in military equipment in the face of tension with neighbouring Gulf states.
Among the world’s top five arms exporters, the United States, which by a large margin, leads in this ranking, and France, ranked third, significantly increased their shares in five years from 32 to 39% and from about 6% to 11%, respectively.
The American Wall Street Journal reported that the Saudi forces are struggling to prevent the Ansar Allah group “Houthis” in Yemen from taking full control of Marib.
The newspaper stated that this would give the Houthis effective control over the entire north of Yemen, and the oil money would help them finance their battles against Saudi Arabia.
The newspaper quoted an unnamed Saudi official saying, “If the Houthis control Marib, Saudi Arabia will lose the war, and we will lose security and stability in the region.”
According to the newspaper, Saudi military advisers in Yemen are abandoning their uniforms and wearing the traditional Yemeni robe, to reduce the risk of being targeted and not attract the Houthis’ attention during battles on the front lines.
