Saudi Arabia, Yemeni government urge UN action against Houthis

Saudi Arabia and Yemen's internationally recognised government on Friday called on the UN Security Council to act against the Houthis. Saudi envoy Abdulaziz al-Wasil told the council that the Houthis were increasingly targeting civilians, recruiting child soldiers and threatening shipping in the Red Sea and Bab el-Mandeb Strait. He condemned what he called "blatant" attacks on Saudi airports, saying Riyadh would "not allow Yemen to be turned into a staging ground for threats to its security or to the freedom of navigation". Yemen's envoy, Abdullah Ali Fadhel al-Saadi, said the Houthi threat was "no longer an internal Yemeni affair" and urged the council to take "decisive, practical measures" to cut off funding, weapons and technology to the group. He said more than 100 children had been killed in September alone, accused the Houthis of attacking schools and markets and displacing over 200,000 people, and condemned their latest strikes on Saudi Arabia.