Yemen’s Houthis deny launching drone toward Saudi Arabia after coalition says aircraft was intercepted over Mecca region

Yemen’s Houthi movement denied on Tuesday that it had launched any operation toward Saudi Arabia after the Saudi-led coalition said it intercepted and destroyed a drone over the Mecca region.

Coalition spokesman Maj. Gen. Turki al-Maliki announced that air defenses had intercepted the unmanned aircraft in western Saudi Arabia but did not identify its intended target or provide details about casualties or damage.

Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree rejected the Saudi account, saying: “We confirm that today we did not carry out any operation toward Saudi territory.”

He accused Riyadh of fabricating the incident and falsely portraying it as an attempted attack on Mecca.

“The defeats inflicted by our armed forces on the Saudi enemy have left it in a state of confusion and disarray, prompting it to fabricate events and invent facts,” Saree said.

He described allegations that Houthi forces had targeted Mecca as a recurring and “baseless” accusation used whenever Saudi forces suffer battlefield setbacks.

The Saudi-led coalition did not initially say the drone had been launched specifically at the holy city of Mecca, only that it had been intercepted in the wider Mecca region.

Tuesday’s incident followed another round of reported interceptions a day earlier, when the coalition said it destroyed a ballistic missile and two drones launched by the Houthis toward Saudi territory.

The Houthis and the Saudi-led coalition have exchanged repeated accusations over cross-border missile and drone attacks in recent weeks, with claims from both sides often difficult to independently verify.