Yemen's Houthis Dismiss Saudi Drone Claim Over Makkah Airspace

Sana, October 30: Yemen's Houthi movement on Friday rejected a claim by the Saudi-led coalition that it had destroyed a Houthi drone over the Makkah area, saying the group had not attacked Saudi Arabia that day.

Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree labelled the Saudi account false. In a post on the social media platform X, he said the group had carried out no military operations toward Saudi territory on Friday.

The coalition had earlier announced that a drone launched by the Houthis was intercepted and destroyed in the Makkah region. Makkah is the holiest city in Islam, and any threat to it carries major religious and political weight.

Border clashes between Saudi Arabia and Houthi forces have escalated in recent weeks. Saudi forces have conducted airstrikes in Houthi-held parts of Yemen, while Houthi fighters have launched missiles and drones into Saudi Arabia.

The Yemen conflict began in December 2014, when the Houthis took over Sana and large areas of northern Yemen. A year later, in 2015, the Saudi-led coalition launched a military intervention to support the Yemeni government.

In September, Houthi leader Abdul-Malik al-Houthi had similarly dismissed reports that his group attempted to target Makkah. Amid growing tensions with Saudi Arabia, he described such claims as fabricated and misleading.

In a televised address on Al-Masirah TV, he maintained that the allegations were false and were aimed at generating wider support for military action in Yemen. He also accused Riyadh of not advancing a political process during a quieter period, saying restrictions on Houthi-controlled regions had been strengthened instead.

According to the coalition, Royal Saudi Air Defense Forces had stopped the drone south of Makkah, before it could enter the city's restricted airspace. Coalition spokesman Turki al-Maliki called the security of the two holy mosques and the pilgrims who visit them a red line, and said appropriate steps would follow.

Al-Maliki further claimed that the incident marked the second alleged Houthi effort to strike Makkah. The coalition had made a similar charge on July 27, 2017, saying the Houthis had targeted the city with a ballistic missile.