PM vows unwavering support for KSA

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Friday, appreciating the remarkable progress in Pakistan-Saudi Arabia relations in recent years, reaffirmed Pakistan's commitment to further strengthening existing institutional mechanisms to deepen and broaden bilateral cooperation across various sectors.

The prime minister, in a meeting with newly appointed Saudi Ambassador Dr Rajeh Tami Albugamy, who called on him, reaffirmed that Pakistan stood shoulder-to-shoulder with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in safeguarding its sovereignty, security and territorial integrity.

He strongly condemned the recent escalation in Houthi attacks against Saudi Arabia, which had resulted in the loss of precious lives and injuries to scores of innocent people, including Pakistani nationals.

He underlined that Pakistan and Saudi Arabia had always stood by each other and that the Strategic Mutual Defence Agreement and the Makkah Joint Defence Alliance marked historic milestones in their longstanding fraternal relations and reflected their shared commitment to regional peace and security.

Welcoming the ambassador to Pakistan, the prime minister congratulated him on assuming his new responsibilities and wished him success in his diplomatic assignment.

He thanked the Saudi leadership for its longstanding economic and financial support to Pakistan.

The prime minister also wished the ambassador every success in his assignment and assured him of Pakistan's full support and cooperation in further strengthening the longstanding fraternal ties between the two countries.

Ambassador Albugamy also met Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, where the latter underscored longstanding fraternal and strategic ties between Islamabad and Riyadh, according to the Foreign Office (FO).

He also reaffirmed Pakistan and Saudi Arabia's "shared commitment to further strengthen bilateral cooperation for mutual progress and prosperity".

The FO added that the new Saudi envoy conveyed greetings from the kingdom's leadership to Pakistan, with Dar reciprocating and conveying his best wishes to Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and other Saudi leaders.

Houthi attack

The Saudi-led coalition fighting Yemen's Houthis said on Friday that it intercepted missiles and drones over Riyadh and other areas, as the kingdom comes under sustained attack from its Iran-backed foes.

Since Yemen's civil war flared back to life in July, the Houthis have repeatedly struck Saudi targets including Red Sea tankers, oil facilities and Riyadh's international airport, where 13 people were killed in a single attack last week.

Saudi Arabia leads a military coalition that has supported Yemen's internationally recognised government against the Houthis for more than a decade.

"We intercepted and destroyed three drones in the southern area and Riyadh... and two cruise missiles over the Red Sea," coalition spokesman Turki al-Malki wrote on X.

He added that "in the past hours, we intercepted and destroyed a ballistic missile over Yanbu", a city home to the terminus of a major oil pipeline on the Red Sea coast.

The pressure on Saudi Arabia, the world's largest oil exporter, comes as global energy markets were already rattled by Iran's closure of the Strait of Hormuz at the outset of the wider Middle East war in February.

The Houthi attacks have proliferated since the group launched a lightning offensive in Yemen in September, seizing strategic government-held territory along the Red Sea coast overlooking a major chokepoint for global shipping.

The UN Security Council on Thursday "condemned in the strongest terms continued and escalatory Houthi attacks against the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia", as well as their "attacks and threats against commercial shipping in the Red Sea and Bab al-Mandab" Strait, the southern gateway to the Suez Canal.

The Security Council also denounced the group's "reckless strikes" on Riyadh's airport, which the Saudi-led coalition said had been targeted at least 20 times so far this month.

Palace struck

A Saudi foreign ministry official accused Iran on Thursday of continuing "to arm, train and support the Houthi militia in violation of UN security council resolutions".

"We think that the escalation by the Houthis at this latest stage of the conflict is encouraged by Iran," added Dr. Rayed Krimly, deputy minister for public diplomacy.

Yemeni government forces have launched a counteroffensive with Saudi air support to retake areas seized by the Houthis, but have so far failed to reverse their gains.

On Thursday, the group launched a deadly missile attack on the presidential palace in the interim seat of the Yemeni government in Aden, killing five people and wounding 16 others, according to the health minister.

Yemeni Prime Minister Shaya al-Zindani denounced the "cowardly" act on X, calling it a "continuation of (the Houthis') criminal pattern".

A government minister said on condition of anonymity that Zindani had been present at the time, but "was not harmed in any way".

The minister said the Houthis hit a command centre for Yemeni government forces at the complex with three missiles, and another for Saudi coalition forces with two missiles.

Media affiliated with the Houthis said they had targeted "the headquarters of military operations, led by Saudi officers, at the Al-Maashiq Palace in Aden, as well as weapons depots belonging to them".

(With additional input from AFP)