UN condemns Houthi ballistic missile against Saudi Arabia

Yemen's president Abdrabu Mansur Hadi addresses the 72nd UN General Assembly at the UN headquarters in New York, US, on September 21, 2017. Lucas Jackson / Reuters

The UN Security Council condemned the ballistic missile attack by the Houthi rebels in Yemen against Saudi Arabia "in the strongest possible terms".

All 15 council members approved on Friday a statement that “expressed alarm at the stated intention of the Houthis to continue these attacks against Saudi Arabia, as well as to launch additional attacks against other states in the region”.

A Saudi-led coalition — which includes the UAE — is fighting the Iran-backed Houthi rebels on behalf of the internationally-recognised government of Yemen's president Abdrabu Mansur Hadi.

On Tuesday, Saudi Arabia intercepted a missile of the capital Riyadh. The rebels said they were targeting Al Yamama Palace, the official residence of King Salman located in the western suburbs of the capital. It is also the headquarters of the Royal Court.

The council called for the implementation of an arms embargo on the Houthi rebels and called on the parties in Yemen to start negotiating a political statement.

Read more: British minister welcomes arrival of aid in Sanaa

Yemen, one of the poorest countries in the Arab world, has endured three years of civil war between Houthi rebels and a US-backed military coalition headed by Saudi Arabia.

More than 10,000 people have been killed and the country has been taken to the brink of famine. Cholera flared up in April and spread rapidly, killing 2,227 people but the death rate has since fallen dramatically.

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said on Wednesday that cholera cases in the country had reached one million suspected cases, a statement that the Saudi-led coalition said may be exaggerated.

Read more: Yemen's Houthis 'kidnap' daughter of Saleh's personal guard

"It is nearly impossible to accurately determine whether the suspected cases are cholera or simple diarrhoea," a statement by the spokesperson for the coalition said.

Saudi Arabia said on Wednesday it would allow the Houthi-controlled port of Hodeidah, vital for aid, to stay open for a month. The rebels control the capital Sanaa.

The coalition spokesperson also said Houthis were suspicious of vaccination drives and do not readily allow humanitarian aid and workers into their territory and "even loot food and medical supplies”.