Egypt has strongly condemned the ballistic missile attacks carried out by the Iran-backed Houthi movement in Yemen against the Saudi capital Riyadh. The Houthi missiles were intercepted by the Saudi air defence. In a statement on Tuesday, Egypt's Ministry of Foreign Affairs reiterated support for the measures taken by the Saudi authorities to preserve its security, stability, and territorial integrity in the face of these repeated "terrorist attacks", which represent a threat to stability and security in the region. On Tuesday, the Houthi movement announced a widespread and qualitative offensive operation in the Saudi depth, after the Riyadh-led coalition reported the interception of ballistic missiles and drones targeting Riyadh and southern Saudi Arabia. Meanwhile, the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen launched an offensive on the Yemeni capital targeting Houthi targets "in accordance with the international humanitarian law." A spokesperson for the Houthi forces, Brigadier General Yahya Saree said in a press conference in Sana'a, that several ballistic missiles and 25 drones used in the operation that targeted military and vital targets in Riyadh, Jeddah, Taif, Jizan, Najran and Asir. He added that they included attacks by Samad-3 drones and a number of "Zulfiqar" missiles, targeting the Ministry of Defence, King Khalid Airport and other military targets in Riyadh. Saree also noted that 6 Samad-2 and Samad-3 drones targeted King Fahd Air Base in Taif and Aramco in Jeddah, while 5 Samad-1 and Samad-2 drones targeted military sites in Abha, Jizan and Asir. He further pointed out that 8 Qasef-2 drones and a large number of ballistic missiles targeted "sensitive and important sites" in Abha, Jizan and Najran. Egypt has repeatedly stressed the need to respond to all ceasefire calls, in order to reach a settlement for the Yemen crisis, in accordance with the relevant references. This particularly relates to the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) initiative, the outcomes of the comprehensive national [Yemeni] dialogue, and UN Security Council Resolution 2216. Yemen has witnessed significant political turmoil since March 2015, when the Iran-backed Houthi movement declared a coup in September 2014 against the internationally supported government. Since then, Saudi Arabia announced the formation of the Coalition for Supporting Legitimacy in Yemen, which includes the UAE, Jordan, Bahrain, Pakistan, Djibouti, Sudan, Senegal, Kuwait, and Egypt.
