Dubai: Gulf states participating in the coalition to restore the internationally recognised Yemeni government of Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi have slammed a rebel missile attack close to Makkah, describing it as a new low for the group.
Yemeni rebels launched one of their longest-range strikes against Saudi Arabia, firing a ballistic missile that was shot down near Makkah, the Saudi-led coalition fighting them said yesterday.
Al Houthi rebels launched the missile “towards the Makkah area” on Thursday evening from their Saada province stronghold just across the border, a coalition statement said.
“The air defence was able to intercept and destroy it about 65 kilometres from Makkah without any damage.”
The rebels confirmed the launch of a Burkan-1 ballistic missile into Saudi Arabia in a statement on their official news agency, but said it had been aimed at King Abdul Aziz International Airport in Jeddah, the kingdom’s busiest airport where most foreign pilgrims to Makkah arrive.
The Al Houthi-controlled SABA news agency said the missile “directly hit” the airport and caused massive destruction. There were no immediate delays or diversions affecting the airport yesterday.
Islam’s holiest sites are located in Makkah and nearby Madinah cities.
The six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council condemned the attack which it described as “clear evidence” that the rebels are not willing to accept a political solution to Yemen’s 19-month-old conflict.
“This assault is undisputed evidence that the Houthi-Saleh group has gone too far in their violations and their refusal to comply with the will of the international community and its resolutions for a truce as well as the persistent efforts being made to reach a political solution to the crisis in Yemen,” Secretary-General of the GCC Dr Abdul Latif Al Zayani said in a statement.
Saudi foreign minister Adel Al Jubeir took to Twitter to condemn the attack, saying: “The Al Houthi-Saleh group that is backed by Iran took nothing into account in targeting this sacred land, the cradle of Islam and the direction in which Muslims around the world pray.”
Coalition spokesman Ahmad Al Assiri also launched a scathing condemnation in comments to Saudi news channel Al Ekhbariya, saying: “We assure everyone that just the way the head of the snake (Iran) failed at targeting nationals (Saudis) and Muslims in... Makkah, its tail will fail too, and we will cut it off.”
Shaikh Abdullah Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, UAE Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, criticised Iran for the attack. “The Iranian regime backs a terrorist group that fires its rockets on Makkah... Is this an Islamic regime as it claims to be?” he wrote on Twitter. Qatar called the attack “a provocation to the feelings of millions of Muslims worldwide”.
In a statement, Shaikh Abdullah said it "violates sanctities and goes beyond limits.
''This criminal, heinous act absolutely exposes the true nature of these militias and their allies.''
The coalition has been carrying out a bombing campaign against the rebels since March last year and there have been rebel strikes towards the bases from which the coalition mounts air raids. Saudi Arabia has deployed Patriot missiles to intercept the rebel fire.
Al Houthis and their allies, including forces loyal to former Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh, have a stockpile of Soviet-era Scud missiles and locally designed variants.
All GCC states, apart from Oman, are members of the Saudi-led coalition. The UAE itself is a major pillar of the alliance.
The coalition as well as the United States accuse Iran of arming the rebels, a charge denied by Tehran. Al Houthi rebels are a minority group that belong to the Zaidi sect of Shiite Islam. They fought six wars against Yemen’s government between 2004 and 2010. Makkah lies more than 500 kilometres from the Yemeni border.
It is the second time this month that the rebels have fired a missile of that range. On October 9, the coalition said it had intercepted a missile near Taif, the site of a Saudi airbase some 65km from Makkah.
In a separate incident on Thursday, rebel fire hit a two-storey building in the Saudi border district of Jazan without causing casualties.
— With inputs from agencies
