Yemen's Houthi fighters have tough record in ground war

Followers of the Houthi group raise their weapons as they demonstrate against an arms embargo imposed by the U.N. Security Council on the group in Sanaa April 16, 2015. REUTERS/Mohamed al-Sayaghi

SANAA (Reuters) - 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 manoeuvre" 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.