RIYADH: Saudi Arabia's Air Defense Forces intercepted and destroyed two ballistic missiles and six drones fired by the "terrorist Houthi militia" toward Saudi Arabia on Sunday night, the alliance said early Monday.
Colonel Turki al-Maliki, spokesman of the Arab Coalition supporting Yemen's legitime government, said the Iran-backed militia fired the missiles and booby-trapped unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) from the Yemeni capital Sanaa toward civilian targets in Saudi Arabia.
It was fortunate that the weapons of war were destroyed before they could hit their targets, Al-Maliki said, without mentioning which places were targetted.
The Houthis have for the past five years targetted various civilian areas and industrial sites in the Kingdom. Among these were the airport in Riyadh, an oil refinery in the Eastern Province, various targets in western regions of Najran, Jazan and Asir, as well as the holy city of Makkah.
Al-Maliki accused the Houthi militia of escalating the hostilities to target civilians inside Yemen and neighboring countries and that such atrocities would not go unpunished.
He said the Coalition and takes will "take the necessary operational measures to stop these terrorist acts ... in accordance with international humanitarian law and its customary rules."
Yemen's Information Minister Muammar al-Eryani said the terror attacks "follow the Iranian dictates," state news agency SABA reported.
The GCC Secretary General Dr. Nayef Al-Hajraf also said these hostile actions by Houthis who target civilian areas in Yemen and other neighboring countries are a blatant violation of International law.
The UAE’s foreign ministry said both the security of the UAE and Saudi Arabia are indivisible, and any threat facing the Kingdom is considered a threat to UAE’s security and stability, state news agency WAM reported.
In Egypt, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs expressed solidarity with Saudi Arabia “as it faces these assaults that target its civilians.” It also pledged its full support for any defensive measures authorities in the Kingdom take to ensure the country remains safe from terrorism.
Pakistan’s foreign ministry also condemned the Houthi’s attacks against Saudi Arabia, saying that it fully supports and the Kingdom against any threats to its security and territorial integrity, state news agency SPA reported.
The Dean of Diplomatic Corps and Ambassador of Djibouti to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Dya-Eddine Bamakhrama said the Houthis’ attack targeting civilians is a blatant aggression that threatens the security and stability of the region, and violates the international humanitarian law, SPA reported.
