A security alert has been issued in Islam’s holiest city.
Saudi Arabia has said that a drone launched by the Houthis towards Mecca has been intercepted and destroyed, in an escalation that could threaten the holy city.
The Saudi-led coalition spokesperson, Turki al-Maliki, said Royal Saudi Air Defence Forces intercepted the hostile drone before it entered the restricted airspace on Tuesday evening.
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Al-Maliki condemned the incident as an attempt to frighten worshippers and harm civilians, warning that the security of the two holy mosques and pilgrims is a “red line”.
The Houthis have previously denied targeting Mecca, saying that they do not target holy sites.
Security alerts
Saudi Arabia issued a security alert on Tuesday in the holy city of Mecca for the first time since the Houthis last attempted to target the sacred area in ۲۰۱۷.
The alert of potential danger in Mecca was swiftly lifted after a few minutes. The same alert was activated for Taif and Jeddah, Saudi Arabia’s second-largest city.
In a statement to Yemen’s SABA news agency on Tuesday, a Houthi military source strongly rejected the claim that Houthi forces pose a threat to the city of Mecca or other Islamic holy sites.
“We categorically deny that there is any threat from Yemen directed at the city of Mecca or any other holy sites,” the source said, condemning what he described as “misinformation”.
The latest attacks mark a sharp resurgence in a conflict dating to ۲۰۱۵, when Saudi Arabia intervened in Yemen after the Houthis seized Sanaa and ousted the internationally recognised government.
A UN-brokered truce in April ۲۰۲۲ largely halted Houthi attacks on Saudi territory, but hostilities have escalated again since the group declared a blockade on Saudi shipping in July and gained control of critical nodes on the country’s Bab al-Mandeb coastline.
In early September, the Iran-aligned group launched missiles and drones at sites across Saudi Arabia, marking a drastic escalation in the fighting. Riyadh has accused the Houthi rebels of launching attacks on civilian and economic sites in the kingdom.
The Saudi-led coalition said it will respond “firmly” to Houthi strikes on urban areas that injured ۱۳ people in the Saudi cities of Khamis Mushait, Abha and Taif on Tuesday.
Why is the alert on Mecca significant?
This was the first time in nearly a decade that a security alert had been activated in Mecca.
Mecca is home to the Kaaba, Islam’s holiest site. Two billion Muslims around the world face the Kaaba during their daily prayers.
This year, Saudi Arabia welcomed around ۱.۷ million Muslims for the Hajj season in late May, while the country was vulnerable to direct strikes.
Hajj is considered one of the five pillars of Islam, necessary for Muslims to fulfil once in their lifetime.
Throughout the year, millions of pilgrims travel to Mecca to perform the optional Umrah pilgrimage.
Last autumn, Mecca welcomed more than ۱۱.۷ million pilgrims for Umrah between September and October ۲۰۲۵.
Hajj has only been restricted during the COVID-۱۹ pandemic in ۲۰۲۰, when Saudi Arabia barred foreign Muslims from performing the pilgrimage to help prevent the spread of the virus.
It remains to be seen if the attacks on Saudi Arabia will affect pilgrimage to Mecca.
