Saudi-led coalition intercepts drone in Makkah region

The Saudi-led coalition fighting Yemen’s Houthis said on Friday it had intercepted a drone in the region of the holy city of Makkah following repeated attacks on the kingdom by the pro-Iran group.

“Interception and destruction of a drone in the Makkah region,” Turki al-Malki, the coalition’s spokesman, wrote on social media, without elaborating on the source of the attack.

Since the breakdown of a truce in July, Saudi Arabia has traded blows with the Houthis, who have struck Saudi airports, energy infrastructure and military sites.

But the group has repeatedly said their forces will not target the holy cities of Makkah or Madinah.

On Thursday, the Saudi coalition said it had intercepted a missile fired by the Houthis at the Madina region, a claim denounced by the group as “blatant and grave falsehood”.

On the ground in Yemen, the Houthis have also been fighting forces from the country’s Saudi-backed internationally recognised government.

A September offensive saw the Houthis capture areas overlooking the strategic Bab al-Mandab Strait, which links Europe to Asia via the Red Sea and Suez Canal.

Government forces have since been trying to retake territory, backed by Saudi air power.