- The drone was intercepted at 6:50 p.m. Saudi time on Tuesday south of Makkah
Houthi drone destroyed before entering Makkah’s airspace, Saudi Arabia says
RIYADH: Saudi air defenses were able to destroy a drone attempting to enter the air space of the holy city of Makkah, in a major escalation by Yemen’s Houthi rebels.
The drone was intercepted at 6:50 p.m. Saudi time on Tuesday south of Makkah, a city visited by millions of Muslims annually.
The act was a red line said Major General Turki Al-Malki, spokesperson for the Coalition to Restore Legitimacy in Yemen, in a statement issued early on Wednesday.
Makkah is Islam’s holiest site and the act by the Iran-backed group is likely to upset millions of Muslims globally.
The location is key to one of Islam’s major pillars — the Hajj, a pilgrimage to the city and it’s holy precincts.
The coalition said the attempt by the Houthis will remain “a black mark in the record of violations by the terrorist Houthi militia, considered a deliberate act to inflame the feelings of millions of Muslims”.
This is not the first time that the group has had a missile shot down around the holy city.
In 2017, Saudi air defense forces intercepted a ballistic missile launched toward Makkah by Yemen’s Houthi militia, according to the Arab Coalition command.
The Coalition said at the time that the missile was shot down over Al-Wasliya area in Taif province. No damage or injuries were reported.
On Monday, thirteen civilians in Saudi Arabia were injured as a result of the group’s targeting of civilian areas in Khamis Mushait, Abha and Taif with ballistic missiles.
Last week an attack by the militia left more than 70 people injured, including women and children, in various towns and cities across Saudi Arabia.
The Kingdom on Friday temporarily shut down its East-West Pipeline after it was targeted in several drone attacks in the Riyadh and Madinah regions.
Gulf and Muslim organizations condemned the attack on the pipeline, expressing solidarity with the Kingdom.
