Saudi Arabia’s Ghost Army: MBS's Billion-Dollar Failure in Yemen | The Link

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Saudi Arabia was paying for soldiers who didn’t exist? On 10 September 2026, the Houthis stormed the Yemeni port city of Mokha. Frontline commanders begged for Saudi air support. It never came. Mokha fell, and the next day the Houthis seized Perim Island, which splits the Bab el-Mandeb Strait in two.

Then came the revelation. The Saudi-funded Yemeni battalions defending Mokha were reportedly full of “ghost names”: soldiers who existed only on paper, drawing salaries paid with Saudi money. A Western source told CNN their real strength was about 20% of what was listed.

The ghost payroll is just one of many failures. Eleven years after a 29-year-old Mohammed bin Salman launched Operation Decisive Storm expecting a victory within weeks, Saudi Arabia is still losing in Yemen.

In this episode of The Link, Shubhangi Sharma breaks down the crown prince's failures: a war fought from the air alone, airstrikes that created enemies, pushing out the UAE, gold-plated weapons with little battlefield experience, and an interceptor shortage that has left Riyadh’s skies exposed.