Yemen's Houthi Fighters Have Tough Record in Ground War

It's a nightly exercise in futility: Yemen's Houthis fire rifles at Saudi F-15 jets thundering overhead. But the guerrillas' Kalashnikovs would be more formidable if and when Saudi Arabia decided to fight a ground war.
Cairo and Riyadh said this month they were discussing a "major military maneuver" in Saudi Arabia, a sign the Saudi-led alliance bombing the Houthis may make good on threats to launch a ground push across the kingdom's southern border into Yemen.
The air campaign has made little headway since it began on March 26, prompted by the Iranian-allied Houthis's military takeover of large parts of Yemen. The Saudis and their allies see the push as an unacceptable extension of Tehran's reach into Riyadh's backyard, but have not committed to an invasion.
The Houthis are confident their experience in mountain warfare in their northern stronghold would give their Arab adversaries pause. A 2009-2010 war against government forces backed by Saudi Arabia left around 200 Saudi soldiers dead.