Pakistan, Sept. 20 -- Pakistan has strongly condemned Houthi attacks on merchant shipping in the Bab al Mandab Strait and called for their immediate cessation, as the UN Security Council held its second discussion on Friday on the escalating threat to the strategic waterway in the wake of renewed hostilities.

In a statement made at UN Security Council meeting on "Safe Seas, Shared Security" in New York, Pakistan's Permanent Representative

Ambassador Asim Iftikhar Ahmad maintained "We call upon Houthi militia for immediate cessation of these provocative acts which could have dire consequences for maritime security, and regional peace and stability."

The meeting came two days after the Security Council was briefed on the rapidly deterior...