The international community widely condemned on Sunday the attack by the Iran-backed Houthi militias in Yemen against southern Saudi Arabia.
Official spokesman of the Saudi Defense Minister Brigadier General Turki al-Malki said the Kingdom’s air defenses intercepted and destroyed three ballistic missiles and three armed drones fired by the militias against the Eastern Province, Jazan and Najran on Saturday.
Two Saudi children were wounded and 14 houses were damaged in the attack.
Malki condemned the Houthis’ reckless and barbaric actions that reflect their deteriorating morale given their major field losses in Yemen.
The attack drew widespread condemnation from the United States, United Kingdom, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Djibouti, Qatar, Jordan, Kuwait, Bahrain and the Organization for Islamic Cooperation.
They slammed the Houthis for deliberately targeting civilians and civilian locations in the Kingdom, reflecting their flagrant disregard of the international community and its laws and norms.
They called on the international community to take an immediate and decisive stance against these hostile acts, underscoring their solidarity with Saudi Arabia against all threats.
The US mission to Saudi Arabia on Sunday “unequivocally” condemned the Houthi attack.
“Attacking civilians is unlawful and completely unacceptable. These attacks serve no legitimate military objective and prolong the Yemen conflict,” the US mission said in a statement.
“We once again urge the Houthis to cease immediately these senseless attacks and begin working toward a peaceful, diplomatic solution to the conflict,” it said.
Saudi academic Ibrahim Nahhas said the Houthi attacks are part of the militias’ commitment to Iran’s hostile regional agenda.
He told Asharq Al-Awsat that the Houthis are stripped of their decision-making power and are only used as pawns by Iran, which is trying to exhaust Saudi Arabia politically and financially.
It is trying to distract Riyadh with terrorism files so that Tehran can further its expansionist agenda and recruit new operatives against the Gulf and Arab region, he noted.
He added that the Houthis are not concerned with peace in Yemen in spite of the appointment of a new United Nations envoy.
The efforts of UN envoys have always been limited to diplomacy, not imposing a new reality on the ground, which has only encouraged the Houthis’ dismissive positions and their hostilities on the ground, said Nahhas.
