Saudi Arabia Says It Intercepted Houthi Drone Fired Toward Mecca... Houthi Denies Claims as 'Lies'

▲ The Grand Mosque in Mecca, Saudi Arabia

The Saudi Arabian military announced that it intercepted and destroyed a drone launched by Yemen's Houthi rebels toward Mecca, Islam's holiest site, on the 15th local time.

In a statement released via its X account on the 16th, the Saudi military announced, "The Saudi Air Force intercepted and destroyed a hostile drone launched by the terrorist organization Houthi," adding, "The drone entered the no-fly zone of the holy site of Makkah Al-Mukarramah (Mecca the Honored)."

The previous day, Saudi Arabia's General Directorate of Civil Defense issued airstrike warning alerts for the regions of Mecca, Jeddah, and Taif.

This marks the first time an alert has been issued for Mecca since the outbreak of the war with Iran.

In response, Hazem al-Asad, a member of the Houthi political bureau, countered on X, saying, "Claims that we targeted Mecca are stale lies that have been made before and no longer fool anyone."

Saudi authorities previously announced in July 2017 that Houthi rebels had fired a ballistic missile toward Mecca.

Attacks on Mecca, the birthplace of Islam and its highest holy site, are considered unacceptable by the entire Islamic world, regardless of the reason.

Yemeni rebels have also strongly denied such allegations to avoid losing their justification that their military actions are a "holy war to defend Islam against Israel and the United States."

(Photo: AP, Yonhap News)

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