Pakistan Condemns Houthi Attacks on Saudi Arabia at UN Security Council, Demands Immediate Halt

 

Pakistan has strongly condemned continued Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia's civilian and economic infrastructure and demanded an immediate halt to the strikes, with Islamabad's acting envoy to the United Nations, Ambassador Usman Jadoon, reaffirming the country's "unwavering support" for the kingdom's security, sovereignty and territorial integrity during a UN Security Council debate on the Middle East.

Speaking at the UNSC open debate in New York on 15 October 2026, Ambassador Jadoon expressed deep concern over the rapidly deteriorating situation in Yemen and said the attacks on Saudi Arabia "must cease immediately", backing the UN special envoy's efforts to revive dialogue aimed at securing a comprehensive and lasting peace in the war-torn country, according to a report by The Express Tribune.

Main News Report

Pakistan's Acting Permanent Representative to the UN addressed the Security Council's open debate on the situation in the Middle East, where he:

• Strongly condemned continued Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia, including its civilian and economic infrastructure.
• Called for an immediate halt to the strikes, insisting that "these attacks must cease immediately".
• Reiterated Pakistan's "unwavering support for the security, sovereignty and territorial integrity of the brotherly Kingdom", and reaffirmed its right to self-defence under international law against any external attacks.
• Thanked Acting Special Coordinator Ramiz Alakbarov for his briefing and backed the UN special envoy's efforts to resume dialogue for lasting peace in Yemen.

Jadoon said Pakistan remained committed to advancing dialogue and diplomacy in the region to help de-escalate tensions, resolve differences and promote lasting peace and stability.

Background Context

The condemnation comes amid a sharp escalation in Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia. The Saudi-led coalition said the Houthis launched 20 attacks on King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh this month alone — strikes the kingdom says have killed 17 people and injured 333 others. Abha airport in southwestern Saudi Arabia has also been targeted amid the renewed hostilities.

Yemen's civil war reignited in July after a UN-brokered truce collapsed, just months into a wider Middle East war. A 2022 ceasefire between the Saudis and the Houthis unravelled this summer, culminating in a Houthi advance that seized the Red Sea chokepoint of Bab el-Mandeb from Saudi-backed government forces. Saudi Arabia entered the Yemen war in 2015 at the head of an Arab coalition; the conflict became a bloody stalemate, with hundreds of thousands of Yemenis killed by fighting and famine.

Pakistan's position carries weight given its deepening security partnership with Riyadh: the two countries recently formalised the Mecca defence pact, a mutual-defence arrangement centred on the protection of the holy cities, making Pakistan one of the kingdom's closest strategic partners in the region.

Reactions and Statements

Beyond Yemen, Ambassador Jadoon used the debate to lay out Pakistan's positions on the region's other flashpoints:

• Palestine: He said the two-state solution remained the internationally agreed framework and an "indispensable foundation" for a just and lasting peace, warning that settlement expansion — particularly the E1 project — threatened to sever Palestinian territorial contiguity. He condemned settler violence, demolitions, land seizures and forced displacement, and decried what he called provocative and illegal incursions into Al-Aqsa Mosque/Al-Haram Al-Sharif.
• Gaza ceasefire: He said continued ceasefire violations, the killing of Palestinians and restrictions on humanitarian access remained a matter of grave concern, calling for the ceasefire to be fully upheld, aid to be delivered "unhindered and at scale", and the indispensable work of UNRWA to be supported.
• Lebanon: He called for full implementation of the relevant UNSC resolution, respect for the cessation of hostilities, Israel's withdrawal from occupied territory, and serious consideration of the Lebanese government's call for the continuation of UNIFIL.
• Syria: Pakistan welcomed the government's efforts to foster internal stability and reaffirmed support for Syria's sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity, saying the 1974 Disengagement Agreement and UNSC resolutions 338 and 497 must be fully respected.
• He also called for the release of withheld Palestinian revenues so the Palestinian Authority can fulfil its responsibilities, and for a credible, time-bound and irreversible political process to end the Israeli occupation and establish an independent, sovereign and viable State of Palestine on pre-1967 borders, with Al-Quds Al-Sharif as its capital.

Why This News Matters

For Pakistan, the statement is more than diplomatic courtesy. It is the clearest signal yet that Islamabad stands behind Riyadh as Houthi attacks intensify — a stance with direct consequences for the millions of Pakistanis who live and work in Saudi Arabia, for Pakistan's energy security, and for the credibility of the newly signed Mecca defence pact.

Delivered at the world's highest diplomatic forum, the condemnation puts Pakistan's weight behind the coalition's position that the attacks on civilian airports and economic infrastructure are unacceptable, while its simultaneous emphasis on dialogue and the UN special envoy's mission shows Islamabad is pushing for de-escalation rather than escalation.

The sweeping remarks on Palestine, Gaza, Lebanon and Syria also confirm that Pakistan intends to speak with one consistent voice on the region's conflicts: support for international law, an end to occupation and annexation attempts, and political solutions over military ones.

Future Developments

Several things will shape what happens next:

• The UN special envoy's diplomacy: Whether efforts to revive dialogue can bring the Houthis and the Saudi-backed government back to the table will determine if Pakistan's call for de-escalation gains traction.
• Coalition retaliation: The Saudi-led coalition has claimed hundreds of strikes on Houthi-held territory since July; the scale of any further response to this month's airport attacks will test Pakistan's balancing act between solidarity with Riyadh and its preference for diplomacy.
• The Mecca defence pact: How the mutual-defence arrangement is operationalised amid escalating attacks will be watched closely in both Islamabad and Riyadh.
• Gaza and the West Bank: Pakistan's call for full compliance with the Gaza ceasefire and a halt to the E1 settlement project will be tested in the coming weeks as winter approaches and humanitarian conditions deteriorate.

PakInsight Hub will continue to follow Pakistan's diplomacy at the UN and the fast-moving situation in the Middle East.

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