World · India Bureau
Houthis deny targeting Islam's holiest cities, claim Saudi oil facilities hit
Yemen's Houthi group has rejected allegations that it launched attacks on Mecca and Medina, insisting instead that Saudi Arabian oil installations were the intended targets. Saudi Arabia said it intercepted two ballistic missiles directed at the holy cities, with debris falling across multiple locations.
LSN India ·
The Houthi movement denied responsibility for any assault on Islam's two holiest cities on Monday, countering Saudi Arabian claims that it had thwarted a direct missile threat to Mecca and Medina. The Iranian-aligned group asserted that its military operations were focused exclusively on Saudi energy infrastructure rather than religious sites.
Saudi Arabia's defence ministry reported intercepting two ballistic missiles and stated that debris from the interception fell in several areas following the alleged attack. The kingdom did not specify the exact timing or additional details regarding the incident, though such claims have been a recurring feature of the Yemen conflict.
The denial underscores the ongoing dispute between Saudi Arabia and the Houthi faction over the nature and scope of cross-border attacks. The group has previously claimed responsibility for strikes on Saudi oil facilities and military installations as part of its broader campaign against the kingdom-led coalition that has been conducting air operations in Yemen since 2015.
Neither party provided independent verification of Monday's claims, reflecting the broader difficulty in verifying assertions made by combatants in Yemen's protracted civil war. The incident marks another escalation in the pattern of missile and drone attacks that have characterized recent months of the conflict.