Houthis deny attacking Saudi’s Mecca region after Riyadh says it downed drone

Yemen’s Houthis deny launching any attack towards Saudi Arabia this morning, after the Saudi-led coalition said it had intercepted and destroyed a drone launched by the group over the Mecca region.

Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree dismisses the coalition’s account as false in a post on X, saying the group had not carried out any operation towards Saudi territory. He says its operations target Saudi oil facilities and military bases.

The Iran-backed Houthis have launched a series of cross-border attacks against Saudi Arabia targeting military installations, airports and energy infrastructure.

The group has repeatedly denied targeting Mecca and Medina, Islam’s two holiest cities, rejecting previous Saudi-led coalition accusations that it had launched drones towards the cities.