UN Security Council slams ‘escalatory’ Houthi attacks

The UN Security Council issued a joint statement on Oct 15 condemning the "escalatory" attacks by Iran-backed Houthi rebels on Saudi Arabia, including "reckless strikes" on Riyadh's airport.



The Saudi capital's international airport has been targeted by strikes 20 times since the beginning of October, with an attack last weekend killing 13 people and wounding more than 300.



In a joint statement shared by the Security Council's president, Greece's Evangelos Sekeris, the 15-member United Nations body "condemned in the strongest terms continued and escalatory Houthi attacks against the kingdom of Saudi Arabia", as well as "continued Houthi attacks and threats against commercial shipping in the Red Sea and Bab el-Mandeb (Strait)".



The statement also "affirmed the inherent right of the kingdom of Saudi Arabia of self-defence in accordance with international law".



Since the airport attack, the Saudi coalition reported on Oct 15 that it had intercepted a missile in the region of Medina, one of the holiest cities in Islam.