Qatar yesterday expressed its condemnation over the ballistic missile launched by Houthi militias targeting the holy city of Makkah.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement that “launching a missile toward the city of Makkah is a blatant assault on the sanctity of the kingdom and the Islamic holy sites and it represents a provocation to the feelings of millions of Muslims around the world”.
The ministry considered the attack “as a clear evidence of the continuation of the Houthi militias’ excesses and their refusal to adhere to the resolutions of the international community and the ongoing efforts to implement armistice”.
It hampers all efforts to reach a political solution to the Yemeni crisis, according to the statement.
The statement stressed Qatar’s firm position supporting the tireless efforts undertaken by Saudi Arabia to promote security and peace as well as to achieve peace in Yemen in accordance with the Gulf initiative, the outputs of the National Dialogue as well as the relevant UN resolutions, including the UNSC Resolution 2216.
GCC secretary-general Dr Abdullatif bin Rashid al-Zayani expressed the GCC’s strong condemnation of the targeting of Makkah by the Houthi-Saleh group.
In a statement, al-Zayani said that GCC states considered this brutal assault as a provocation to the feelings of Muslims and disrespect to the sanctity of Islamic holy sites.
He added that the attack was a clear evidence of the group’s refusal to acknowledge the international community’s will and decisions as well as efforts to enforce a truce in Yemen and reach a political solution to the crisis there.
In Abu Dhabi, Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed al-Nahyan, UAE’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Co-operation, said the targeting of the holy city of Makkah by the ballistic missile was a brazen act of aggression on the purest spot on earth and on the Islamic sacred shrines.
“It violates sanctities and goes beyond limits,” Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed said. “This criminal, heinous act absolutely exposes the true nature of these militias and their allies.”
In Cairo, Arab League secretary-general Ahmed Aboul Gheit strongly condemned the Houthi group’s targeting of Makkah, saying that such a shameful act was an unacceptable violation of the sanctity of holy sites and constituted a threat to the lives of innocent civilians in the city.
In statement, the secretary-general described the action as “a serious escalation from Houthis that comes at a time when strenuous efforts are being made to secure a stable truce in Yemen that paves the way for reaching a proper settlement for the crisis there”.
The command of the coalition forces to support the legitimacy in Yemen had earlier announced that the Saudi Air Defence was able to intercept a ballistic missile launched by Houthi militias on Thursday evening from the province of Saada towards the Makkah area.
In a statement, the coalition said the ballistic missile was destroyed about 65km away from Makkah without causing any damage.
It added that the coalition air forces then targeted the site from where the missile was launched.
Meanwhile, a spokesman of the Directorate of Civil Defence in the Jazan region has said in a statement that a military projectile has fallen on the Saudi province of Samtah without causing any injuries,
Major Yahya bin Abdullah al-Qahtani said the civil defence teams responded to a report on projectile launched by Houthi elements from the Yemeni territories.
He added that the projectile resulted in damaging a two-storey residential building but caused no injuries.
