Pakistan on Tuesday condemned the Houthi projectile attack on Saudi Arabia.
“These attacks not only violate the territorial integrity of the Kingdom but also threaten the lives of innocent people. Pakistan calls for their immediate cessation, as it stands in solidarity with Saudi Arabia,” the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
Islamabad also called on the Houthi rebels to halt its attacks on Marib, Yemen, and reiterated its call for a comprehensive political solution to the conflict through peaceful means.
According to Saudi state-run media at least five people were injured on early Tuesday when a projectile launched by Houthi rebels struck the southern Saudi region of Jazan.
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“The military projectile had fallen in a public street, resulting in the injury of five civilians, including three Saudis and two Yemeni nationals,” Saudi Press Agency quoted Mohammed Al-Ghamdi, a spokesman for the Civil Defense Directorate in Jazan, as saying.
The attack also damaged two houses, a grocery store, and three civilian vehicles.
The US embassy in Riyadh condemned the cross-border fire, and called on the Huthis to “stop attacking innocent civilians and to engage in the diplomatic process to end this conflict”.
The rebels did not immediately claim responsibility.
The Iran-backed rebels have escalated attacks on the kingdom in recent weeks, while they step up an offensive to seize the Saudi-backed government’s last northern stronghold of Marib.
#Pakistan strongly condemns Houthi militants’ terrorist attack by launching of a military projectile on one of the border villages in #Jazan area in Saudi Arabia, resulting in injuries to three civilians. These attacks threaten peace & security of 🇸🇦 as well as the region. 1/2
— Ministry of Foreign Affairs – Pakistan (@ForeignOfficePk) January 18, 2021
On Saturday, loud explosions shook the capital Riyadh as the Saudi-led coalition said it thwarted a Huthi missile attack, which sent shrapnel raining down on civilian homes.
No casualties were reported but at least one civilian home was damaged, state-run Al-Ekhbariya television said.
Separately, the coalition said it intercepted six Huthi drones targeting the kingdom on Saturday, including the southern cities of Khamis Mushait and Jizan.
Yemen’s six-year-old civil war pits the Iran-backed rebels against an internationally recognised government backed by a Saudi-led military coalition.
The grinding conflict has claimed tens of thousands of lives and displaced millions, according to international organisations, sparking what the UN calls the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.
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On Monday, UN chief Antonio Guterres warned of a “death sentence” against war-torn Yemen after a donor conference yielded less than half the $3.85 billion required to prevent a devastating famine.
Anadolu with additional input by GVS News Desk