Saudi Arabia’s civil defence agency said that it responded to shrapnel falling in the Mecca and Medina regions after intercepting missiles launched by Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis.
“The fall of shrapnel from two ballistic missiles launched by the terrorist Houthi militia towards the regions of Mecca Al-Mukarramah and Medina Al-Munawwarah,” the General Directorate of Saudi Civil Defense said in a post on X.
It added that that fragments of the shrapnel fell in Wadi Mughamas outside Mecca, Al-Nuzha neighborhood in Jeddah, Wadi Jalil in Taif, and an uninhabited site in Rabigh.
Houthis, however, denied targeting the Islam’s two holiest cities.
“What the Saudi enemy is promoting about our forces targeting towards the holy areas of Mecca and Medina is a great and huge lie,” Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree said.
Earlier on Saturday, the Saudi Civil Defense — the government agency that operates under the Kingdom’s Ministry of Interior and is responsible for protecting civilians and property during emergencies and disasters — warned of “potential danger” in four of its western provinces, including Mecca and instructed residents of the provices to “proceed to the nearest safe place”.
This came hours after Houthis said that they targeted several Saudi sites over Friday and Saturday, including three airports, two oil facilities, a pipeline and an air base.
Yahya Saree said the group targeted the King Khalid International Airport in Saudi capital Riyadh “in two phases”, and the airports in Dammam and Najran regions. The group also targeted the southern Khamis Mushait air base as well as “crude oil pumping stations and the crude oil pipeline from east to west”.
As clashes intensify in the region, Yemen’s Saudi-backed government also said on Saturday that Houthis fired three ballistic missiles at coast guard facilities in the southern port of Aden.
The escalation has torn up the 2022 UN-mediated truce, which had largely kept the Saudi-led coalition and the Houthis from striking across the border. The coalition supports Yemen’s internationally recognized government, while the Houthis remain in control of the capital, Sanaa.
