Several states and organizations considered cross-border attacks staged by Houthis in Yemen against neighboring Saudi civilians an extension of the Iran-backed group’s war crimes.
International condemnation and warnings have failed in curbing Houthi ballistic missile and drone attacks repeatedly striking civilian targets.
UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab on Sunday condemned a ballistic missile attack by the Houthis on the Saudi capital, Riyadh.
“The UK condemns the latest Houthi missile and drone attacks targeted at Saudi Arabia and Marib,” Raab said in a tweet.
“These put innocent lives at risk, and show that those responsible are not serious about peace, let alone protecting the Yemeni people,” he added, criticizing Houthi conduct.
Col. Turki al-Maliki, the spokesman for the Saudi-led Arab Coalition, said the Houthis were trying in “a systematic and deliberate way to target civilians.”
He added that Houthi violence both violates international and humanitarian laws and hinders efforts for finding a political solution that ends conflict in Yemen.
Despite Arab Coalition forces successfully intercepting and destroying hundreds of Houthi missiles and drones launched against civilians, shrapnel from one of the Houthi ballistic missiles crashed through the roof of a residential property in Riyadh after it was intercepted.
No casualties were reported.
“The Houthi militia’s insistence on continuing these terrorist acts constitutes a continuation of the dangerous escalation that these militias are undertaking to harm the security of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and undermine the stability of the region,” said the Kuwaiti Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Kuwait renewed its call to the international community, and the UN Security Council, to carry out their duties to curb the Houthis' “dangerous escalation” and to maintain international peace and security.
Qatar strongly condemned the Houthi missile attack that targeted Riyadh and said it was “a dangerous act against civilians which contravenes all international norms and laws.”
The secretary-general of the Gulf Cooperation Council, Dr. Nayef Al-Hajjraf, condemned the terrorist Houthi militia, saying that the continuation of such attacks reflected a blatant challenge to the international community and showed its disregard for international laws and norms.
This, according to Hajjraf, required the international community to take an immediate and decisive stance to stop the repeated terrorist acts, which targeted vital and civilian installations and the security and stability of Saudi Arabia.
