LONDON: There was international condemnation on Saturday of the “horrific” Houthi attack on Saudi Arabia that killed two people, including a Saudi citizen and a Yemeni national.
The US embassy in Riyadh said attacks by the militia were “perpetuating the conflict, prolonging the suffering of Yemen people, and endangering the Saudi people alongside more than 70,000 US citizens residing in Saudi Arabia.”
The Kingdom’s Civil Defense said that Friday’s projectile launched from Yemen landed in Samtah, a town in the southwestern Jazan region. It wounded seven people and destroyed shops and vehicles.
“We again call on the Houthis to end their reckless attacks on the people of Saudi Arabia and to engage under UN auspices to end this conflict and bring peace to the people of Yemen.”
The U.S. Embassy in Riyadh strongly condemns the horrific Houthi cross-border attack on the #Jizan province of Saudi Arabia. pic.twitter.com/5r2V3KE9IA
— U.S. Mission to KSA (@USAinKSA) December 25, 2021
The Arab Interior Ministers Council said the “cowardly” attack is considered a criminal act and constitutes a war crime, “whose perpetrators must be held accountable”
The council’s General Secretariat issued a statement from its headquarters in Tunis saying the attack adds to the other crimes committed by the Houthi militia, its flagrant violations of international humanitarian law, and its continuous threats to regional security and stability.
The Arab Parliament and Gulf Cooperation Council also condemned the “cowardly act” and the “targeting of innocent civilians by the Houthi terrorist militia.”
The Arab Parliament said the deliberate criminal act flagrantly violated all international laws, calling on the UN to take firm stances toward these acts and to hold the perpetrators accountable.
GCC secretary-general, Nayef Al-Hajraf, said the Houthis continued immoral practices of trying to target civilians and civilian objects, as well as populated neighborhoods, amounted to a war crime. and said the international community must assume its responsibilities toward the Houthis’ practices.
The UAE called for taking all necessary measures to protect civilians and civilian objects from the threats of the militia and said the security of the emirates and of Saudi Arabia were indivisible, and that any threat or danger to the Kingdom was considered by the UAE as a threat to its security and stability.
Bahrain also called on the international community to condemn the heinous terrorist attacks committed deliberately and systematically by the Houthi militia, in flagrant violation of international humanitarian law.
Both countries, as well as the GCC, affirmed their solidarity with the Kingdom in all measures it took to maintain its security, stability and territorial integrity.
Qatar said the attack was considered a dangerous act against civilians, in contravention of all international norms and laws, and reiterated it’s “firm stance rejecting violence and criminal and sabotage acts, regardless of the motives and reasons.”
1-We strongly condemn the crime of deliberate targeting of civilian objects and civilians in the Jazan region in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, which led to the killing of civilians (1 Saudi citizen, 1 Yemeni expatriate) and the injury of 7 others, and damage to homes and shops pic.twitter.com/75O1iyZGMA
— معمر الإرياني (@ERYANIM) December 25, 2021
Yemen’s Information Minister Moammar Al-Eryani said the terrorist attacks threatened the lives of the 2 million Yemenis living in the Kingdom “who fled the brutality and terrorism of the Houthi militia, impoverishment and humiliation against citizens in areas under its control, in search of livelihood, security and tranquility, and militia’s missiles pursued them.”
He called on the international community to designate the militia as a terrorist organization and prosecute its leaders as war criminals.
Kuwait, Egypt, Jordan and Pakistan issued similar statements strongly condemning the attack and stressing their support for Saudi Arabia.
The Houthis have been launching near daily cross-border attacks using ballistic missiles and drones to target populated areas in the Kingdom’s southwestern region, most of which are intercepted and destroyed by Saudi air defenses.
