Saudi Arabia's King Salman on Tuesday described Yemen's Houthi rebels as a "terrorist militia," accusing them of targeting Mecca, after Riyadh said the Iran-backed fighters had launched an attack on the holy city on Thursday.
King Salman © FTR
Saudi Arabia's King Salman on Tuesday described Yemen's Houthi rebels as a "terrorist militia," accusing them of targeting Mecca, after Riyadh said the Iran-backed fighters had launched an attack on the holy city on Thursday.
King Salman, 90, who rarely speaks in public, praised "the role of the armed forces and security services... in defending the country" and condemned "the Houthi terrorist militia's renewed attempt to target Mecca," calling it "a provocation to Muslims around the world," according to the official Saudi Press Agency.
The king's intervention comes as Riyadh faces a widening Houthi offensive that has seen the Iran-aligned group seize large stretches of Yemen's Red Sea coast in recent weeks, including the Bab al-Mandab strait, a strategic waterway that has become increasingly vital to global shipping.
Saudi Arabia said it intercepted and destroyed a drone before it entered the holy city's restricted airspace, the first such alert in Mecca in nearly a decade, according to the Saudi-led coalition.
Houthis reject the accusation
The Houthis have strongly denied targeting Mecca, dismissing the claim as a "lie." Their military spokesman, Yahya Saree, said the group's operations were aimed at Saudi oil facilities and military bases "far removed from the holy places." The Houthis, who follow the Zaydi branch of Shiite Islam, also revere Mecca as a sacred city.
The accusation has drawn condemnation from across the Muslim world, including from the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, which called the alleged attack "heinous."
The Saudi-led coalition has vowed to respond "firmly," describing the security of the Two Holy Mosques as a "red line."
The escalation comes amid a broader deterioration in the conflict: the Houthis have also struck Saudi oil facilities in Yanbu, while Riyadh has separately reported drone attacks on its East-West pipeline launched from Iraq, and continues to face mounting international concern over the safety of shipping through both the Bab al-Mandeb and Hormuz straits.
By Talal Al Ghanim
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