Pakistan on Wednesday condemned a missile attack carried out
yesterday by Yemen's Houthi rebels targeting the official residence of
Saudi King Salman.
A loud explosion was heard in Riyadh
shortly before the scheduled unveiling of the Saudi budget, which is
usually announced by the king from the Yamamah palace, his official
residence.
The missile was intercepted by the Saudi-led
coalition before any damage could be done. It is the second missile
fired by the Houthis — who seized the Yemeni capital in 2014 — at Riyadh
in the past two months.
A Foreign Office (FO) statement
said that the "increasing frequency and ferocity of the missile attacks
targeting innocent civilians by Houthi rebels, pose a threat to regional
peace and security and is therefore, highly condemnable".
"Pakistan
stands firmly with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in confronting terrorism
in all its forms and manifestations," the FO said, adding that Pakistan
reaffirms its support to Saudi Arabia.
The statement
also said that in case of any violations of Saudi Arabia's territorial
integrity or "any threat to Haramain Sharifain, Pakistan will stand
shoulder to shoulder with the government and people of Saudi Arabia."
Saudi
Arabia and the United States have accused Iran of supplying weapons to
the Houthi rebels, and Riyadh described the latest missile as
"Iranian-Houthi".
The first attack targeted Riyadh
international airport on Nov 4, and triggered a tightening of the
long-standing Saudi-led blockade of Yemen which is already on the verge
of famine.
The Houthi rebels last month warned that they
considered "airports, ports, border crossings and areas of any
importance" in Saudi Arabia, as well as its ally the United Arab
Emirates, as legitimate targets.
More than 8,750 people
have been killed since Saudi Arabia and its allies joined the
government’s fight against the Houthis in 2015.
