FO condemns ballistic missile attack on Saudi Arabia by Yemen's Houthi rebels

ISLAMABAD: The Foreign Office on Friday expressed concern at the reported ballistic missile attack by Yemen's Houthi rebels on Saudi Arabia, said a statement released.

"It strongly condemns the attack and commends the timely action by Saudi forces to destroy the missile preventing any loss of lives," said the FO. 

Pakistan reiterated its full support and solidarity with the government and the people of the kingdom. 

The statement further added that it condemns any threats aimed Saudi Arabia and demanded the "anti-Government forces in Yemen to desist from attacks against the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia".

On Thursday, Yemen's Houthi rebels said they fired a ballistic missile at Saudi Arabia and hit a military target, in the second such attack this month, after threatening to retaliate over a crippling blockade.

"We confirm the success of our ballistic missile trial, which hit its military target inside Saudi Arabia," the Houthi-run Al-Masira television channel said.

Hours earlier in a speech broadcast on Al-Masira, rebel chief Abdulmalik al-Houthi had warned against "prolonging the blockade" imposed on Yemen following a November 4 rebel missile attack that was intercepted near Riyadh international airport.

"Should the blockade continue, we know what (targets) would cause great pain and how to reach them," he said.

Saudi Arabia and its allies tightened the longstanding blockade on Yemen's ports and the main international airport in Sanaa in the wake of the November missile attack.

The move prompted the Houthis to warn that they considered "airports, ports, border crossings, and areas of any importance" in Saudi Arabia, as well as its ally the United Arab Emirates, legitimate targets.

The conflict has claimed more than 8,600 lives since the Saudi-led coalition joined the government's war against the rebel alliance.

More than 2,000 people have also died of cholera this year.

The United Nations (UN) has warned Yemen faces mass famine unless the Saudi-led coalition allows more food aid into the country, long the poorest in the region.

The coalition allowed limited supplies into select areas in Yemen last weekend.

Yemen's conflict — which has enabled Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula and Daesh to flourish in the chaos of war — shows no sign of waning.

The Houthi-Saleh rebel alliance has also begun to unravel, with clashes between the Houthis and fighters loyal to the former president leaving at least 14 dead on Wednesday.

Violence between the two — whose alliance first began to show cracks in August — flared again Thursday night, localised in southern Sanaa and around the residence of two of Saleh's nephews.