Saudi-led coalition blames Houthis for strike on Medina power station
A Saudi-led coalition says Yemen's Houthi rebels carried out a drone strike on an electricity station supplying Medina's Prophet's Mosque, drawing widespread condemnation across the Muslim world while the Houthis deny responsibility.
The Saudi-led coalition said Thursday that Iran-backed Houthi rebels from Yemen struck an electricity distribution station in the holy Saudi city of Medina, an accusation the Houthis have denied.
Coalition spokesman Major General Turki al-Maliki said a drone hit the Taibah electricity distribution station at around 5:11 am local time on September 29. He said an investigation, including examination of the drone's wreckage, confirmed the Houthi militia planned and carried out the strike. One transformer was knocked offline, though the wider power network was unaffected. Al-Maliki noted the station supplies electricity to the Prophet's Mosque, calling the strike part of an ongoing pattern of the group targeting civilian infrastructure tied to Islam's holiest sites.
Medina, along with Mecca, is one of Islam's holiest cities, home to the burial site of the Prophet Mohammed and the Prophet's Mosque. While the Houthis have repeatedly fired drones and missiles at Saudi Arabia since the kingdom intervened in Yemen's civil war in 2015, strikes near Islamic holy sites have been rare.
Fighting escalates in Yemen
The accusation came amid intensifying conflict in Yemen. AFP correspondents reported hearing loud explosions in the Houthi-controlled capital Sanaa on Thursday evening. Yemen's internationally recognised government said its forces struck Houthi targets in Sanaa, Saada and Taiz, including 27 air strikes against an integrated Houthi military system in Taiz.
A senior Houthi official again denied the group had targeted Islamic holy sites.
Wide condemnation
Turkey strongly condemned the strike, affirming support for Saudi Arabia and calling for an immediate end to what it described as provocative attacks. Qatar also condemned the incident as a grave violation of Saudi sovereignty and the sanctity of Islamic holy sites. The League of Arab States called the attack an unacceptable transgression that provokes Muslims worldwide, and Cairo's Al-Azhar institute likewise denounced the strike.
