Saudi coalition downs Houthi drone near Mecca

Interception in holy city region

The Saudi-led military coalition said on Friday it intercepted and destroyed a drone fired by Yemen's Houthi rebels in the Mecca region. The coalition described the device as a threat launched by the "terrorist Houthi militia" and announced the interception in a statement posted to X.

"A drone launched by the terrorist Houthi militia has been intercepted and destroyed in the Mecca region," the coalition wrote on the social media platform.

Houthis deny targeting Mecca

Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree rejected the Saudi account and denied that the group had targeted Islam's holiest city. Saree called the coalition statement "a massive and egregious fabrication," though he did not provide further details on the incident.

The Iran-aligned group has consistently denied previous Saudi accusations of firing missiles toward Mecca, maintaining that it does not target civilian or religious sites.

History of cross-border attacks

Saudi Arabia has reported multiple Houthi missile and drone attacks in the vicinity of Mecca in recent years, all of which the Yemeni group has rejected as baseless. The kingdom often identifies the Houthis as a terrorist militia in its official statements.

The latest incident comes amid ongoing regional tensions and the prolonged conflict in Yemen, where the Saudi-led coalition has been engaged since 2015.