The Saudi-led coalition said it intercepted and destroyed a Houthi drone in the Mecca region on Oct. 30, while the Yemeni group denied launching any attack toward Saudi Arabia that day.
Coalition spokesman Turki al-Malki announced the interception on X. His statement identified the Mecca region as the interception site but did not specify the drone’s intended target.
Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree rejected the coalition’s account as false, saying the group had carried out no operation toward Saudi territory that day. He said its operations targeted Saudi oil facilities and military bases.
The Houthis have repeatedly denied targeting Mecca and Medina, Islam’s two holiest cities, following similar Saudi accusations.
In a separate statement issued earlier on Oct. 30, al-Malki said a Houthi cruise missile launched toward western Saudi Arabia had also been intercepted and destroyed.
Saudi Civil Defense said debris from two intercepted ballistic missiles slightly injured a Saudi citizen in Riyadh on Oct. 29 and damaged a house and a vehicle.
The Houthis said they had carried out six attacks against Saudi targets that day, including oil facilities and airports.
The group’s claims of successful strikes were not independently confirmed.
The Saudi-led coalition intervened in Yemen in March 2015 to support the internationally recognized government against the Houthis, who seized the capital Sanaa in September 2014.
