Saudi-led coalition says it intercepted Houthi drone aimed at Mecca

Coalition spokesman Turki al-Malki said in a social media post that the drone was “intercepted and destroyed” on Friday morning, and it was also reported that a missile aimed at western Saudi Arabia had earlier been brought down. The reports come as hostilities between the Riyadh-backed Yemen government and Iran-backed Houthis continue to escalate.

The Houthi spokesman reiterated that the group's cross-border attacks remain strictly focused on Saudi energy and military infrastructure. “Our operations target [Saudi] oil facilities and military bases, and there is no longer anyone in this world who believes these fabrications and lies propagated by the criminal Al Saud regime,” he said. The Saudi-led coalition has previously accused the Houthis of launching drones towards Islam's two holiest cities: Mecca and Medina.

Hostilities have shown no sign of slowing. On Thursday, the coalition said it destroyed a ballistic missile fired by the Houthis towards the kingdom's eastern region, and later said two ballistic missiles launched towards the Saudi capital, Riyadh, were also intercepted and destroyed. Al-Malki reported early on Friday that air defences intercepted a Houthi cruise missile targeting western Saudi Arabia.

Media outlets affiliated with the Houthis reported that coalition air attacks were targeting the Mahliyah district in Marib, Haifan in Taiz and Huwaishan in al-Jawf. Reporting from Taiz, Al Jazeera's Hadeel al-Yamani said fighting along the front lines was persisting. The governor of Taiz said the city was suffering heavy shelling, with residential neighbourhoods taking hits. "Aircraft can be heard frequently over the city, which remains under a suffocating siege, with no medical supplies, water or fuel getting in," al-Yamani reported. He described intermittent clashes around dawn on the western front and relatively calm northern fronts with sporadic fighting, as well as a notable escalation around Jabal Saber and Jabal Habashi.