Saudi crown prince MBS ‘forged father’s signature’ to launch war on Houthis

Mohammed bin Salman, the crown prince of Saudi Arabia, forged King Salman’s signature to send ground troops into Yemen, a former royal adviser has claimed.

Saad al-Jabri, an aide to Muhammad bin Nayef, the crown prince from 2015 to 2017, said that Prince Mohammed, then minister of defence, was the driving force behind the deployment to fight Houthi rebels in 2015.

The Saudi-led coalition’s intervention, which has lasted for almost a decade, has received international criticism, including from the UN, which said the thousands of airstrikes had killed tens of thousands of people. Saudi Arabia admitted in 2016 that it had used UK-manufactured cluster bombs against the Houthis.