Daijiworld Media Network - New Delhi
Sanaa, Oct 30: Yemen's Houthi group on Friday denied launching any attacks against Saudi Arabia after the Saudi-led coalition claimed it had intercepted a Houthi drone over the Mecca region.
In a statement posted on social media platform X, Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Sarea rejected the Saudi claim, describing it as “false”, Xinhua news agency reported. Sarea said the group had carried out “no operations toward Saudi territory” on Friday.
The denial came after Saudi-led coalition spokesperson Turki Al-Maliki said earlier in the day that a drone launched by the Houthi group had been intercepted and destroyed in the Mecca region, home to Islam's holiest city.
Cross-border hostilities between the two sides have intensified in recent weeks, with Saudi strikes targeting Houthi-controlled areas in Yemen and the Houthis launching missiles and drones towards Saudi Arabia.
Yemen has been embroiled in conflict since late 2014, when the Houthis seized Sanaa and large parts of northern Yemen. The Saudi-led coalition intervened in 2015 in support of the Yemeni government.
In September, Houthi leader Abdul-Malik al-Houthi had also rejected allegations that his group attempted to attack the Islamic holy city of Mecca, describing them as “fabrication and misinformation” amid rising tensions with Saudi Arabia.
In a televised address carried by Houthi-run al-Masirah TV, al-Houthi called the allegations that Houthi forces had targeted Mecca a “lie”. He claimed the accusation was being used to mobilise wider support for what he described as “military measures imposed on Yemen”.
Al-Houthi also accused Saudi Arabia of failing to make progress towards a political settlement during the period of relative calm before the latest escalation.
He alleged that restrictions affecting Houthi-controlled areas in Yemen had instead been tightened, with limitations on airport operations and imports remaining among the key unresolved issues.
His remarks came a day after Saudi Arabia publicly accused the Houthis of launching a drone towards Mecca. The Saudi-led coalition had said the Royal Saudi Air Defence Forces intercepted and destroyed the drone south of Mecca before it could enter the holy city's restricted airspace.
Coalition spokesperson Turki al-Maliki described the security of Islam's two holiest sites and pilgrims as a “red line” and said necessary measures would be taken in response.
He also claimed that the incident was the second alleged Houthi attempt to target Mecca, following what the coalition described as a ballistic missile attack on July 27, 2017.