The official spokesman of the Coalition to Restore Legitimacy in Yemen, Major General Turki Al-Malki, said attacks by the terrorist Houthi group on airports and civilian facilities pose a direct threat to civilians and travellers and amount to a flagrant violation of international humanitarian law and its customary rules.

Speaking at a press conference held today on the targeting of King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh, Al-Malki offered condolences to the families of the martyrs and wished the injured a quick recovery. He condemned what he called cowardly terrorist acts against civilians and civilian facilities in the Kingdom, part of a series of attacks on civilian sites used by tens of thousands of innocent people every day.

He said the targeting of Makkah and Madinah extends a systematic hostile approach that endangers visitors to the Two Holy Mosques and pilgrims and spreads fear among peaceful people, stressing the need for all measures required to protect the Kingdom and its holy sites.

According to Al-Malki, the militia obtained advanced technologies with the help of regional parties, becoming the first terrorist group to own ballistic missiles, attack and suicide drones, and booby-trapped fast boats. The coalition's Joint Forces Command has worked to dismantle the network of mountain depots the militia built in Sanaa, Saada and Amran, from which attacks on Yemen and neighbouring countries are launched, and has destroyed a number of missile launch platforms.

He praised the high efficiency of the Kingdom's air defence systems in intercepting threats, and said the command had established that the militia uses civilian objects and vital resources to fuel its war effort, including Al-Sabaha Central Station in Sanaa as well as underground fuel reserves, fuel tanks and fuel-handling berths in Hodeidah, Sanaa and Dhamar.

Al-Malki called for an immediate end to all Houthi terrorist operations against civilians and civilian objects, including airports, ports, oil facilities and infrastructure.