The successful interception of two Houthi ballistic missiles fired into Saudi territory is gratifying but it does underscore the concern that old Soviet era munitions are still available on the black market and accessible to rebel groups and militants.
The air force neutralized their threat in mid air but it is a guess how many more the Houthis have of such weaponry. They are known to have a supply of Soviet-era Scud missiles, which were seized from the country’s military stockpiles after the nation fell apart.
What makes it even more imperative to up the pressure is that a very sincere effort by the coalition to end the fighting and bring peace to this war ravaged nation that went on for two weeks finally collapsed and the upscaling of conflict could well be a message from the militants that they intend to keep the conflagration going on the border.
Over the past decade there has been this deep worrying factor that the rump states of the former Soviet union was flush with weapon depots and their supplies are still available. It is even difficult to hazard a guess if any of them are bio-chemical in nature or even nuclear since stockpile accounting has pretty much got lost in the intervening years and there is no accurate assessment.
One may recall in 2014 the small town of Ilovaisk was hit by incendiary weapons much like napalm by Ukaranian forces shocking the citizenry who had never seen this sort of firepower. It came to be known as the rain of fire. Even today, a fair amount of ammunition is out there and if it falls into the hands of the extremists it can be very dangerous.
Much of it is not even guarded and is decaying, according to reports. But enough can be salvaged to keep the arms race on and prevent the fighting from ending. Even decaying munitions, rockets and mortars can be used to cause destruction. In one small neglected base a military guard discovered a cache of 5,700 tons of ammunition in a forest. It could just as easily have fallen into the hands of the rebels and rearmed them for longer.
While denying them access to territory makes even more sense in these circumstances, it will probably become necessary to destroy these munition mountains so they do not fall into the wrong hands.
What also has to be addressed is the low level of security surrounding these depots and the need to ensure they cannot be assaulted and these materials salvaged.
The air force neutralized their threat in mid air but it is a guess how many more the Houthis have of such weaponry. They are known to have a supply of Soviet-era Scud missiles, which were seized from the country’s military stockpiles after the nation fell apart.
What makes it even more imperative to up the pressure is that a very sincere effort by the coalition to end the fighting and bring peace to this war ravaged nation that went on for two weeks finally collapsed and the upscaling of conflict could well be a message from the militants that they intend to keep the conflagration going on the border.
Over the past decade there has been this deep worrying factor that the rump states of the former Soviet union was flush with weapon depots and their supplies are still available. It is even difficult to hazard a guess if any of them are bio-chemical in nature or even nuclear since stockpile accounting has pretty much got lost in the intervening years and there is no accurate assessment.
One may recall in 2014 the small town of Ilovaisk was hit by incendiary weapons much like napalm by Ukaranian forces shocking the citizenry who had never seen this sort of firepower. It came to be known as the rain of fire. Even today, a fair amount of ammunition is out there and if it falls into the hands of the extremists it can be very dangerous.
Much of it is not even guarded and is decaying, according to reports. But enough can be salvaged to keep the arms race on and prevent the fighting from ending. Even decaying munitions, rockets and mortars can be used to cause destruction. In one small neglected base a military guard discovered a cache of 5,700 tons of ammunition in a forest. It could just as easily have fallen into the hands of the rebels and rearmed them for longer.
While denying them access to territory makes even more sense in these circumstances, it will probably become necessary to destroy these munition mountains so they do not fall into the wrong hands.
What also has to be addressed is the low level of security surrounding these depots and the need to ensure they cannot be assaulted and these materials salvaged.
