The Saudi Arabia-led Arab coalition reported the Royal Saudi Air Defense Forces had intercepted a drone attempting to enter the airspace over Mecca.
Brigadier General Turki al-Maliki, spokesman for the Arab coalition, said in a post on social media X that Saudi air defense forces detected a drone launched by the Houthis before it entered the restricted airspace over Mecca.
According to al-Maliki, the drone was intercepted and destroyed south of Mecca.
The Houthis had denied claims that the holy sites in Saudi Arabia, particularly Mecca, were under threat from Yemen.
Al Masirah, a Houthi-affiliated television channel, quoted a military source in Houthi-controlled Sana’a as saying that there was no threat to Mecca from Yemen.
Mecca, home to ?shrines sacred to Muslims worldwide, is Islam's holiest city and the ?focal point of the annual hajj pilgrimage, one of the five pillars ?of Islam, which millions of Muslims undertake each year.
Saudi Arabia issued security alerts ?across parts of the country on Tuesday, including in Mecca and other cities, ?following ?a week of attacks by fighters that have drawn the kingdom deeper into the Middle East war.
