ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s ruling and opposition political parties on Thursday condemned a missile attack carried out by Houthi rebels on a civilian airport in southern Saudi Arabia on Wednesday, calling on the United Nations and world powers to take note of repeated assaults on the Kingdom that were endangering regional security.
The Houthis said on their media channels that they fired a cruise missile at Abha airport, which is located about 200 kilometers north of the border with Yemen and serves domestic and regional routes. At least 26 people were injured in the strike.
Wednesday’s attack follows armed drone strikes last month on two oil-pumping stations in the Kingdom. On Thursday, attacks on two oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman left one ablaze and both adrift and drove oil prices up 4% over worries about Middle East supplies. The attacks were the second in a month near the Strait of Hormuz, a major strategic waterway for world oil supplies.
Omar Sarfraz Cheema, the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party’s central information secretary, said it was against the UN charter and international law to target civilians in any conflict.
“We have always condemned Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia and vow to stand by the Kingdom in case of any threat to its territorial integrity and sovereignty,” he told Arab News.
The civil war in Yemen has pitted the Houthis against the government of Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi since 2014. A Saudi-led coalition intervened on the government’s side the following year, accusing Iran of supplying the Houthis with arms, including drones and missiles.
Since the beginning of the four-year conflict, the Houthis have fired dozens of missiles into Saudi Arabia, most of which have been intercepted by the Saudi military.
“We want peace in the Middle East and urge the United Nations to ensure an immediate ceasefire,” Pakistan Peoples Party’s senior leader Taj Haider told Arab News.
He said simmering tensions in the Arabian Gulf could put the security and safety of the whole region at stake, and it was thus the responsibility of the international community to “help resolve the conflicts among the Arab states as quickly as possible.”
Senator Mushahidullah Khan of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz said the Houthis were trying to undermine the security and territorial integrity of Saudi Arabia “on the behest of some other countries,” but they would never succeed in their designs.
“The conflict in Yemen and rising tensions in the Arabian Gulf region are in no one’s interest, and Muslim countries should try to resolve them amicably at the platform of the OIC [Organisation of Islamic Cooperation],” he told Arab News.
Moulana Abdul Akbar Chitrali, a lawmaker belonging to the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal, said Houthis and “some other powers” were trying to destabilize Saudi Arabia through missile and rocket attacks without knowing that “they are playing with the fire.”
Pakistan’s foreign office on Wednesday evening condemned the Houthis for their missile attack on the Abha airport.
“Pakistan reiterates its full support and solidarity with the brotherly Kingdom of Saudi Arabia against any threats to its security and territorial integrity,” the foreign office said in a statement.
Pakistani leaders call for UN intervention as Houthis attack Saudi airport
Pakistani leaders call for UN intervention as Houthis attack Saudi airport
- 26 people injured by missile strike on civilian airport on Wednesday
- Attacks on two oil tankers on Thursday in Gulf of Oman left one ablaze and both adrift
Pakistan transporters call off five-day strike after successful talks with Punjab government
- Transporters went on strike against heavy fines, penalties imposed by Punjab over traffic violations
- Punjab government sets up committee to resolve transporters issues, confirms provincial minister
ISLAMABAD: Pakistani goods transporters called off their five-day-long nationwide strike on Friday after successful talks with the Punjab government, officials and transporters confirmed, as the business community warned of an impending economic crisis if the dispute stayed unresolved.
Transporters went on a nationwide strike on Dec. 8 against stringent traffic rules and heavy fines imposed by the Punjab government over traffic violations. These penalties were included in the Motor Vehicle Ordinance 2025 last month.
The ordinance details hefty fines ranging from Rs2000 [$7] to Rs50,000 [$178] and mentions prison sentences going up to six months for various offenses committed by drivers, such as driving on the wrong side of the road or driving in vehicles with tinted windows.
“Yes, the strike has been called off after our meeting with Senior Minister of Punjab Marriyum Aurangzeb,” Nabeel Tariq, president of the All Pakistan Goods Transport Association (APGTA), told Arab News.
Tariq said fines ranging from Rs1000 ($3.6) to Rs1500 ($5.4) for traffic violations have been increased to around Rs20,000 ($71.3) as per the new rules.
He said the APGTA has agreed to accept a 100 percent or even 200 percent hike in fines. However, he said an increase of 2000 percent was not “logical.”
“Our urgent demands have been accepted and a committee has been formed to review the ordinance and come up with recommendations,” Tariq said.
Speaking to Arab News, Aurangzeb confirmed the strike had been called off after talks with the Punjab government and that a committee has been formed to resolve the transporters’ issues.
The committee will be headed by Aurangzeb and will include representatives of goods transporters, a statement issued by her office said.
“The government wants to protect human lives and make things better for all citizens,” the statement said. “We will resolve the issues (with transporters) amicably.”
‘UNPRECEDENTED CRISIS’
Pakistan’s business and industrial community, meanwhile, warned of an impending crisis if the disputed was not resolved.
The All Pakistan Textile Mills Association (APTMA) and the Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) have both appealed for immediate government intervention.
Imdad Hussain Naqvi, president of the Grand Transport Alliance Pakistan (GTAP), told Arab News that over 400,000 goods carriers had been stranded across Pakistan due to the strike, affecting supplies to millions of consumers.
Earlier, in a letter to Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz, APTMA Chairman Kamran Arshad said the strike has “critically impacted import and export operations which are backbone of the country’s economy.”
He said hundreds of cargo vehicles remain stranded across Punjab, creating “abnormal delays” in goods movement and triggering heavy demurrage, detention charges, missed vessels and production shutdowns due to the non-availability of raw materials.
Arshad warned the disruption poses “a serious risk of order cancelation of export orders by international buyers, which would have far-reaching consequences for Pakistan’s foreign exchange earnings.”
Meanwhile in Pakistan’s commercial hub Karachi, KCCI President Rehan Hanif issued an even stronger warning, saying the nationwide strike threatens to paralyze Pakistan’s economic lifeline.
“The complete suspension of cargo movement is pushing Pakistan toward an unprecedented trade and industrial crisis,” Hanif said in a statement.
He added that import and export consignments are now stranded at the city’s ports, highways and industrial zones.
