Gulf Ministers Condemn Houthi Attacks on Saudi Arabia
Foreign ministers of the Gulf Cooperation Council condemned repeated attacks by Yemen's Houthi fighters on Saudi Arabia and pledged support for Riyadh. The ministers met in Manama, Bahrain, and issued the statement on Sunday, October 18, 2026. Al Jazeera
The Council groups Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. Its statement said an attack on any member affected all six members, invoking a joint defence agreement. It also backed Saudi Arabia's right to protect itself.
In its final communique, published by the GCC Secretariat, the Council said it condemns in the strongest terms continuous attacks by what it called the terrorist Houthi militia on Saudi Arabia. GCC Secretariat
Early on October 18, the Saudi-led coalition reported shooting down two drones near Riyadh and in Saudi Arabia's Eastern Province. Gulf ministers accused the Houthis of carrying out deadly strikes on civilian airports and vital facilities and pressed for tighter enforcement of a United Nations arms embargo against the Houthis. Al Jazeera
They also urged countries to formally designate the Houthis as a terrorist organisation. The ministers welcomed an October 15 statement from the UN Security Council condemning Houthi strikes on Saudi Arabia and threats to Red Sea shipping.
Yemen's government also cited an attack on the presidential palace in Aden in letters to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and Aglaia Balta, president of the Security Council for October. Yemen's military said the Houthis fired missiles toward the central city of Marib on October 18.
Government-aligned commanders said eight soldiers died in fighting in Lahij province on October 17, while Yemeni government forces claimed to have killed 12 Houthi fighters in southern Taiz. The fighting has displaced more than 233,000 people, according to the International Organization for Migration, with about 121,000 of them in Taiz province.
The Houthis seized Yemen's capital, Sanaa, in 2014. The Saudi-led coalition has said an earlier Houthi attack on Abha airport in southwestern Saudi Arabia near the Yemeni border killed three people and wounded 28. Reuters
