Saudi-led coalition reports Houthi drone shot down near Mecca

Saudi Arabia’s military says it intercepted and destroyed a Houthi drone south of Mecca, stopping it before it could breach the holy city’s restricted airspace as conflict widens across the Middle East.

A spokesperson for the Saudi-led military coalition fighting in Yemen said the incident marked the second time the Iran-aligned Houthis have attempted to target Mecca, following a ballistic missile launch in July 2017. The statement came after a week of Houthi attacks that have pulled Saudi Arabia deeper into the war.

Mecca, home to some of Islam’s most sacred sites and the destination for the annual hajj pilgrimage, is a “red line” for the kingdom’s security, the spokesperson said.

Houthi officials have denied targeting Mecca.

In recent days, the Houthis have seized control of parts of Yemen’s Red Sea coastline overlooking the Bab al-Mandab, one of the world’s most important maritime chokepoints. The development raises concerns for Saudi Arabia’s oil exports, particularly shipments rerouted away from the Strait of Hormuz.

Saudi authorities issued security alerts for Mecca, but a Houthi spokesperson rejected the accusation, calling it “an outright lie” in comments carried by the Houthi-run SABA news agency.

Over the past week, the Houthis have announced several large-scale attacks on Saudi Arabia, including a strike on an air base on Monday that they described as retaliation for airstrikes on Yemen.

Saudi-led coalition officials said that air base attack wounded 13 civilians.

Separately, Saudi Arabia has blamed a pro-Iranian movement based in Iraq for a Friday attack that knocked out a key piece of the kingdom’s energy infrastructure: the East-West Pipeline that runs across the Arabian desert.

The 1,200km pipeline, which connects Saudi Arabia’s Gulf oil fields to the Red Sea, has served as the kingdom’s principal export route while shipping through the Strait of Hormuz has been disrupted by nearly seven months of war that has killed thousands of people across the region.

Satellite image shows damage to the East-West pipeline facility in the Hejaz Region in Saudi Arabia

With the pipeline shut, traders have warned that an extended outage could remove as much as 4% of global oil supply.

Saudi Arabia has not provided a timetable for restarting operations.

US Energy Secretary Chris Wright, however, told CNBC that crude oil should be moving through the pipeline again within days.

Saudi Arabia has led a coalition fighting the Houthis since 2015.

Although the conflict had largely quietened under a ceasefire in recent years, it flared again this month after the Houthis pushed back forces aligned with the Yemeni government.

Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman spoke by phone with US President Donald Trump last week to seek military support, the report said, though assistance so far has been limited to intelligence aid.