Kuwait and GCC chief condemn Houthi attacks on Saudi airports in Jazan and Najran

Kuwait’s Foreign Ministry has strongly condemned the Houthis’ ongoing “brazen” attacks on Saudi Arabia, accusing the Iran-backed group of targeting “civilians and civilian infrastructure”, as Al Jazeera reports. The Kuwaiti ministry expressed “Kuwait’s categorical rejection of the repetition of these hostile and cowardly acts”, calling them a “flagrant violation” of sovereignty and international law.

The Secretary-General of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), Jassim al-Budaiwi, also condemned the two attacks on King Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz Airport in Jazan and on Najran Airport as “unacceptable”, stressing that “targeting airports and endangering travellers’ lives” constitutes a “flagrant violation of international and humanitarian law”. Al-Budaiwi called on the international community to take “a firm stance against these attacks”.

Saudi Arabia’s General Authority of Civil Aviation announced that Monday evening’s attacks caused three injuries of varying severity and material damage. “Specialised teams dealt with the attacks immediately after they occurred,” the authority’s statement said, adding that damage assessment is continuing and measures are being taken “to ensure the safety of passengers and aviation personnel and to preserve the safety of the Kingdom’s civil aviation system”.

The attacks come at the height of an escalation of fighting along Yemen’s western coast, where Yemeni government forces are confronting Houthi rebels near the Bab al-Mandeb Strait. On Monday evening the Houthis also claimed to have attacked King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh, an Aramco refinery in Rabigh, Abha International Airport and the Khamis Mushait military base — attacks that could not immediately be verified. Also on Monday, Turkey and Pakistan agreed to provide Saudi Arabia with “military forces and capacities” under the Mecca defence pact, following a meeting of the three countries’ ministers and military commanders in Riyadh.