SRINAGAR: The Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen on Thursday accused the Houthi movement of carrying out a drone attack on an electricity distribution station in Medina, saying the strike put one transformer out of service but did not disrupt the wider electricity network.
Coalition spokesman Maj. Gen. Turki al-Maliki said the Taibah electricity distribution station was targeted at 5.11am local time on Tuesday, September 29. He said an operational review and examination of the drone wreckage had, according to the coalition, established Houthi involvement in planning and executing the attack.
Al-Maliki said the station is a civilian facility supplying electricity to the Prophet’s Mosque in Medina. He accused the Houthis of deliberately targeting civilian infrastructure and attempting to provoke Muslims by targeting the Islamic holy cities of Medina and Mecca.
The coalition said it would continue measures to deter Houthi attacks and protect the Two Holy Mosques and their visitors.
The Houthis denied the accusation. A military source in the Houthi-run Defence Ministry, quoted by the Houthi-affiliated Saba News Agency, described the Saudi claim as baseless and said it was intended to cover up what the group described as Saudi Arabia’s failure to substantiate an earlier allegation that the Houthis had targeted Mecca.
The latest incident comes amid a renewed escalation between Saudi Arabia and the Houthis. Saudi Arabia said on September 16 that its air defences intercepted and destroyed a Houthi drone south of Mecca before it entered the city’s restricted airspace. The Houthis denied targeting Mecca or any other Islamic holy site.
Separately, the coalition said on Thursday that its forces intercepted and destroyed two ballistic missiles and four drones launched towards Saudi Arabia over the southern cities of Jazan and Khamis Mushait.
The Houthis have also claimed responsibility for other recent attacks in Saudi Arabia, including strikes targeting Saudi Aramco facilities and military sites. The latest escalation is being described by Reuters as the most serious Saudi-Houthi fighting since a UN-brokered truce largely halted cross-border attacks in 2022.
