Saudi coalition says Houthi drone destroyed near Mecca

• Saudi-led coalition intercepted and destroyed a Houthi drone south of Mecca before it entered the holy city's prohibited airspace on Sept 15.
• Coalition spokesperson Turki al-Malki called security of Islam’s holiest sites a “red line” and vowed deterrent measures against the Houthis.
• Houthis denied threats to Mecca, while recent attacks have escalated Saudi involvement in the Middle East conflict, threatening key shipping routes and oil exports.

CAIRO – Saudi Arabia’s air defences destroyed a Houthi drone south of Mecca before it entered prohibited airspace over the holy city, a spokesperson for the Saudi-led military coalition in Yemen said on Sept 16, as fighting spreads in the Middle East.

The drone, intercepted on the evening of Sept 15, was the second Houthi attempt to target Mecca after a ballistic missile launch in July 2017, spokesperson Turki al-Malki said in a statement, and follows a week of attacks from Iran-aligned Houthi fighters that have drawn Saudi Arabia deeper into the war.

Mecca is home to some of the holiest sites in Islam and the focal point of the annual hajj pilgrimage, and its security was a “red line”, the coalition spokesperson al-Malki said in the statement.

Houthi officials have denied targeting Mecca.

The attacks on Saudia Arabia have shocked global energy markets roiled by the six-month US-Iran war, which has slowed shipping through the Strait of Hormuz to a trickle.

The Houthis have seized control of parts of Yemen’s Red Sea coast in recent days overlooking the Bab el-Mandeb, one of the world’s most important shipping straits, threatening Saudi Arabia’s oil exports rerouted from the Strait of Hormuz.

Saudi Arabia issued security alerts for Mecca on Sept 15, but Houthi political bureau member Mohammed al-Farah denied the group had targeted the city, calling the allegation “an outright lie” in comments carried by the Houthi-run SABA news agency.

The Houthis have announced several major attacks on Saudi Arabia over the past week, including attacks on an air base on Sept 14, which they said were in retaliation for airstrikes on Yemen.

The air base attack wounded 13 civilians, Saudi-led military coalition officials said.

Saudi Arabia has blamed a separate pro-Iranian movement, based in Iraq, for an attack on Sept 11 that knocked out one of the kingdom’s most important oil transport routes, the East-West Pipeline across the Arabian desert.

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

Since the pipeline was shut after the attack on Sept 11, traders say a prolonged closure could cut off as much as 4 per cent of global oil supply.

Saudi Arabia has not said when operations might resume.

But US Energy Secretary Chris Wright told CNBC on Sept 15 that crude oil should be flowing through the pipeline within days.

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

The conflict had largely quietened under a ceasefire in recent years, but reignited when the Houthis pushed back forces aligned with the Yemeni government in September.

Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman phoned US President Donald Trump last week seeking military support, which so far has been limited to intelligence aid. REUTERS