Saudi Arabia ‘strongly condemns’ Houthi attack on Yemen UN monitors

Retired Dutch General Patrick Cammaert (C), who is leading a joint committee, which includes both government and rebel representatives, tasked with overseeing a truce in the Red Sea port city and the withdrawal of both parties, arrives at the Yemeni port of Hodeidah on January 13, 2019. (AFP)

JEDDAH: Saudi Arabia on Friday strongly condemned the targeting of “UN personnel by the Iran-backed Houthi militia in Yemen” after cease-fire monitors came under fire.
The attack took place on Thursday in Hodeidah, where a truce agreed in talks in Sweden came into force last month.
The Houthi militia “have violated their signed commitments in Stockholm and continue to flout international law and escalate their aggression against the Yemeni people,” Saudi Arabia’s Ambassador to the United States Prince Khalid bin Salman tweeted on Friday.

The UN said one round of small arms fire struck a UN-marked armored vehicle that was part of convoy carrying chief monitor Patrick Cammaert.
The UN monitors arrived in Hodeida — the entry point for the bulk of Yemen’s imports — on Dec. 23. The UN Security Council this week agreed to expand the force to 75 monitors.