Casablanca- Morocco has officially condemned the missile attack perpetrated by the Houthis, a Yemeni rebel group, on Mecca.
On Friday October 29th, Al Jazeera reported that the Houthis launched a long-range ballistic missile from 500km over the border towards Mecca on Thursday the 28th at approximately 9 P.M. local time. Saudi Arabia has been a target for the Houthis since its backing of Yemen’s official government.
An official statement released by MAP, the Moroccan Press Agency, states that, “this is a criminal act that is unacceptable and violates the sacred nature of Mecca as a holy Muslim city, affecting millions of Muslims across the world and threatening the safety of Saudi Arabia.”
The statement also expresses the nation’s “entire willingness to support the Saudi government against any forces wishing to harm Al Haram Acharif in Mecca.”
“While reaffirming its full solidarity with the brotherly Kingdom of Saudi Arabia face to whatever could undermine its sovereignty and its tranquility, Morocco expresses its full readiness to support the Saudi government to counter all evil which would target Haram Al Sharif in Mecca”, he same source added.
Morocco “also called the perpetrators of this senseless act to return to reason and to the values of Islam, and accept the legitimacy of the Yemeni government to prevent Yemen and the region harmful consequences of such act.”
The rebels, however, claimed having targeted the international airport in Jeddah, but not Mecca.
Houthi leader Mohammed al-Bekheiti denied allegations that Mecca was the target. “We do not target civilians and, in turn, we would not target holy areas,” he said, according to Al Jazeera.
Yemen has been devastated by civil war between the government of President Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi and the Houthi rebel group. According to the BBC, more than 6,800 people have been killed and more than 35,000 have been injured so far.
