• A coalition spokesman said the attacks were aimed to target civilians
• Yemen’s Information Minister Muammar Al-Eryani condemned the Iranian-backed militia’s looting of a national museum in Ibb province

Arab News

RIYADH: The Arab coalition said it intercepted and destroyed three booby-trapped drones launched by Yemen’s Houthi militia toward Saudi Arabia on Sunday evening, state news agency SPA reported.

The drones was launched “in a systematic and deliberate manner to target civilian objects and civilians in the southern region,” said Arab coalition spokesperson Col. Turki Al-Maliki.

The Arab Coalition said it had destroyed a total of four drones on Sunday, after intercepting another Houthi drone targeting the Kingdom’s southern region on earlier in the morning, SPA reported.

Al-Maliki said that attack was also aimed to target civilians and threatened regional and international security.

Kuwait condemned the continued targeting of Saudi territory and said “the continuation of these heinous crimes threatens the security of the Kingdom and the region.”

The foreign ministry said the attack was a blatant violation of international and humanitarian law that criminalizes attacks on civilian areas, which requires immediate action by the international community, especially the UN Security Council, to curb these attacks and put an end to them.”

The ministry added that Kuwait fully stands with the Kingdom and supports all measures it takes to preserve its security, sovereignty and stability

The Houthi militia has intensified the use of explosive drones, which the United Nations Committee of Experts has said are nearly identical in design, dimensions and capabilities to Iranian-made drones.

President of the Arab Parliament, Adel Al-Asoumi, condemned the attack and said any threat to the security of the Kingdom is considered a threat to Arab national security.

He said “these repeated terrorist attacks by the Houthi militia targeting innocent civilians and civilian objects protected by international law constitute war crimes.”

He also said the attacks reflect the Houthis “flagrant defiance of the international community and their disregard for all international laws, customs and agreements that guarantee protection for civilians.”

Al-Asoumi called on the international community to take urgent action against the Houthi militia and the Iranian regime that supports it with funding and weapons, warning that “failure to take deterrent and decisive steps encourages (the group) to continue implementing its malicious plans aimed at spreading chaos, violence and destruction in region.”

Yousef Al-Othaimeen, secretary-general of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, also condemned the Houthis’ continued launching of drones toward the Kingdom, while praising the capabilities of the coalition forces, SPA reported.

Meanwhile, Yemen’s Information Minister Muammar Al-Eryani condemned the Iranian-backed militia’s looting of a national museum in Ibb province, Yemen state news agency Saba News reported.

Al-Eryani said the attack followed a series of looting and the illegal sale of the country’s manuscripts since the September 2014 coup.

Fighting in Yemen escalated in 2015 when the Houthis overthrew the UN-recognized government of President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi. The coalition, backed by the US, Britain and France, launched a military campaign to restore the legitimate government to power.