ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Monday condemned Houthis’ missile attacks on Saudi territory from Yemen that are believed to have caused the first casualty in the kingdom due to projectiles fired by the Yemeni militia.

Houthis on Sunday fired multiple missiles targeting Riyadh, Najran, Jizan and Khamis Mushait. Saudi forces claimed to have intercepted the missiles and acknowledged that an Egyptian was killed after being hit by shrapnel. This is the first officially accepted casualty from a Houthi missile attack.

Houthis have over the past few months launched several missiles targeting Saudi cities. Most of them were intercepted before they could hit the target.

“Pakistan commends the Government of Saudi Arabia for destroying the missiles and limiting the casualties,” a Foreign Office spokesperson said in a statement on the string of latest attacks.

It is feared that the attacks could escalate the nearly three-year-old war, which the United Nations says has caused the worst humanitarian crisis in the world.

Houthis have also threatened to carry out more attacks, saying they were doing so in response to the war imposed by the US-backed and Saudi Arabia-led military coalition of Arab forces that has killed more than 10,000 Yemenis and pushed the war-ravaged and poverty-stricken country to the brink of mass famine.

The FO said: “The Government and people of Pakistan reiterate their full support and solidarity with the leadership, the government and people of Saudi Arabia against any threats to its territorial integrity and against the Haramain Sharifain."

Published in Dawn, March 27th, 2018