26 March 2018•Update: 26 March 2018
By Michael Hernandez
WASHINGTON
The U.S. on Monday "strongly" condemned a Houthi barrage rocket attack on Saudi Arabia that killed one person and injured two others.
State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert called the attack "dangerous" while expressing condolences to the families of those killed and injured.
"We support the right of our Saudi partners to defend their borders against these threats," she said in a statement. "We continue to call on all parties, including the Houthis, to return to political negotiations and move toward ending the war in Yemen."
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres also "strongly" condemned the attack.
"The Secretary-General calls for restraint amid mounting tensions and stresses that military escalation is not the solution," Guterres' spokesman Farhan Haq said in a statement. "The Secretary-General emphasizes that a negotiated political settlement through inclusive intra-Yemeni dialogue is the only way to end the conflict and address the ongoing humanitarian crisis."
An Egyptian national was killed and two other individuals were injured in the attack late Sunday. All three casualties were the result of falling rocket debris in the Saudi capital, Riyadh.
In 2015, Saudi Arabia and its Arab allies launched a massive air campaign against Houthi rebels, who overran much of Yemen, including the capital, Sanaa, a year earlier.
Riyadh accuses the Shia militia of acting as a proxy force for its regional rival Iran.
