Arab League calls for designating Houthis as terrorists

Global condemnations have been raised on Monday over the latest attacks against the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Saudi Arabia.

The UAE said it intercepted and destroyed two Houthi ballistic missiles targeting its capital Abu Dhabi on Monday with no casualties, following a deadly drone attack a week earlier.

Saudi Arabia on Monday said two people were injured after a Houthi ballistic missile fell on the kingdom's south, in the industrial zone of Ahad Al-Masarihah in the Jazan region.

The Arab League council at the level of permanent representatives has called on all countries to designate the Houthis as a terrorist group after the recent drone attack on the United Arab Emirates.

Following its urgent meeting in Cairo Sunday, the council strongly condemned brutal and vicious terrorist attacks on civilians and civil targets by the terrorist Houthi militia, lauding solidarity of states and regional and international organizations with the United Arab Emirates.

The council voiced absolute solidarity with the UAE and support for all the measures it takes to defend its security, national interests, and capabilities.

It stressed that these terrorist attacks constitute a flagrant violation of international law and international humanitarian law and a real threat to vital civilian installations, energy supplies, and the stability of the global economy.

They also constitute a threat to regional peace and security, undermining Arab national security, damaging international peace and security, and posing a threat to international commercial shipping routes.

Yemen's Houthi rebels on Monday claimed responsibility for the latest round of attacks on the UAE and Saudi Arabia with ballistic missiles and explosive-laden drones.

On Jan. 17, three petroleum tankers burst into a fire near Abu Dhabi National Oil Company storage facilities in Abu Dhabi. Three persons were killed and six others injured in the attack. Later, the Houthi militia claimed responsibility for the strike.

Last week, the Saudi-led coalition forces announced that they carried out airstrikes on Sanaa, the Yemeni capital held by Houthis, in response to the Jan. 17 attacks on Abu Dhabi.

Yemen has been mired in a civil war since the Houthi militia overran much of the country militarily and seized all northern provinces, including Sanaa, in 2014.