Saudi Arabia intercepted and destroyed a Houthi drone south of the Islamic holy city of Mecca on Tuesday evening, according to the spokesman of the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen.
The report indicates that saudi Arabia intercepted and destroyed a Houthi drone south of the Islamic holy city of Mecca on Tuesday evening, according to the spokesman of the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen.
It further notes that turki al-Maliki stated the targeting of Mecca, which is the home of Islam’s most sacred shrine and the focal point of the Hajj pilgrimage, was a “disgraceful act”.
The 57-nation Organisation of Islamic Cooperation stated attacks on Mecca and Medina province, where Islam’s second holiest shrine is located, constituted an “unacceptable and intolerable transgression”.
But the Houthis, an Iran-backed armed group that controls much of western Yemen, denied targeting Mecca and accused Saudi Arabia of “fabrications and lies”.
“There is no threat whatsoever from Yemen to the holy sites. Our operations target their oil facilities and military bases, and are far removed from the holy places,” military spokesman Yahya Sarea said.
Sarea added that the Houthis had launched drones and missiles at Saudi Arabia in retaliation for more than 450 Saudi air strikes on their territory over the past week.
He also stated they had shot down a Saudi fighter jet over Marib province.
There was no immediate response from the Saudi-led coalition, but Maj Gen Maliki did say that its forces would “not hesitate to take the necessary and deterrent measures against the terrorist Houthi militia and its hostile and terrorist behaviour”.
On Tuesday, Saudi authorities issued a series of brief security alerts for incoming projectiles in a number of western areas, including Mecca and Jeddah, the kingdom’s second largest city.
Meanwhile, the US embassy in Saudi Arabia issued a “reconsider travel” advisory, warning that Houthi attacks had targeted cities, infrastructure, airports, military bases, diplomatic facilities and energy facilities.
The Houthis have recently seized control of large swathes of Yemen’s Red Sea coast from Saudi-backed pro-government forces.
Last week, they captured the strategic port city of Mokha and Perim Island in the Bab al-Mandab Strait, the southern gateway to a key shipping route that links Asia and Europe via the Red Sea and the Suez canal.
The Houthis stated they posed no threat to international shipping but reiterated that they would target vessels from Saudi Arabia, which has relied on the Red Sea for oil exports since the US and Israel’s war with Iran effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz in the Gulf.
At the same time, Saudi Arabia’s key East-West Pipeline, which was being used to transfer crude oil from the Gulf to the Red Sea port of Yanbu, had to be closed after it was badly damaged in a strike that the kingdom blamed on Iran-backed militias in Iraq.
