Saudi-led coalition says it destroyed Houthi drone south of Mecca
The Saudi-led coalition said it intercepted and destroyed a Houthi drone south of Mecca on Tuesday before it could reach restricted airspace over the holy city. The Houthis deny the claim.
Drone intercepted near Mecca
Turki al-Malki, spokesperson for the Saudi-led military coalition fighting the Iran-aligned Houthi movement in Yemen, said early Wednesday that Saudi air defences had intercepted and destroyed a Houthi drone south of Mecca on Tuesday before it entered prohibited airspace over the holy city. Mecca is Islam's holiest city and the focal point of the annual hajj pilgrimage, undertaken by millions of Muslims each year.
Al-Malki said the security of Islam's two holiest sites and of pilgrims was a "red line" and that the coalition would take necessary deterrent measures against the Houthis. He described the incident as the second Houthi attempt to target Mecca, after what the coalition said was a ballistic missile launch in July 2017.
A Houthi spokesperson, Hazem al-Assad, rejected the claim on social platform X, calling it a "worn-out lie that has been used before and no longer fools anyone."
International reaction
The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, made up of 57 Muslim-majority countries, condemned what it called a "heinous" attack on Islam's holy city, blaming the Houthis and denouncing what it described as "ongoing aggression" against Saudi Arabia.
On Tuesday, Saudi Arabia issued security alerts across several regions, including Mecca and other cities, following a week of attacks by Iran-aligned fighters that have drawn the kingdom deeper into the wider Middle East war. According to The Guardian, the US embassy issued an advisory urging travellers to "reconsider travel" to Saudi Arabia, citing risks including Iranian drone and missile targeting, armed conflict, terrorism and exit bans, and specifically warning against travel to the Yemen border.
Wider context of the conflict
The Houthis control parts of Yemen's Red Sea coast overlooking the Bab al-Mandab strait, threatening Saudi oil exports rerouted around the Strait of Hormuz. Over the past week, the group has announced several major attacks on Saudi Arabia, including a strike on an airbase on Monday, which it described as retaliation for airstrikes on Yemen.
According to France 24, Saudi Arabia had vowed a day earlier to respond "firmly" to Houthi attacks after they wounded 13 people in the kingdom's south. Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman met in Cairo to discuss the security of navigation in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait and the Red Sea. France 24 also reported that the US Defense Department's inspector general revealed the United States is facing an ammunition shortfall due to its costly involvement in the war with Iran, which has cost $38 billion so far. Several explosions were also heard on the island of Qeshm, near the Strait of Hormuz.
