The Saudi-led coalition accused Yemen’s Houthis of striking a power station in the holy city of Medina in Saudi Arabia, a claim the Iran-backed group denied.
The alleged attack came as fighting intensified in Yemen, where forces of the internationally recognised government said they carried out attacks on Houthi targets and witnesses heard explosions in the Houthi-held capital Sana’a.
The Saudi-led coalition said on Thursday a drone struck Medina’s Taibah electricity distribution station, which provides power to the Prophet’s Mosque.
Medina, the burial place of the Prophet Mohammed and home to the Prophet’s Mosque, is one of Islam’s holiest cities alongside Mecca.
Coalition spokesman Major General Turki al-Maliki said a drone struck the Taibah electricity distribution station at 5:11 am (3:11 am CEST) on Tuesday.
“The investigation and evidence gathered by the competent authorities have confirmed the involvement of the terrorist Houthi militia in planning and executing this cowardly terrorist act, based on after-action review and the wreckage of the drone used,” he said in a statement.
The coalition said one transformer was taken out of service without affecting the wider electricity network. Al-Maliki said the facility supplied electricity to the Prophet’s Mosque.
“This cowardly terrorist act, targeting a civilian facility providing electricity to the Prophet’s Mosque in Medina, is a continuation of this extremist militia’s attempts to target the Two Holy Mosques,” he said.
On Thursday, a senior Houthi official again rejected allegations that the movement had targeted Islamic holy sites, stating they were a “lie” to further back previous claims, according to Houthi-run news agency Saba.
The group had firmly rejected Riyadh’s accusations in mid-September of a drone attack on Mecca, Islam’s holiest site.
“Our operations target its oil facilities and military bases, which are far removed from the sacred sites,” Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree said at the time, adding that “fabrications and lies propagated by the criminal al-Saud regime cannot deceive anyone.”
Mecca is Islam’s holiest site, home to the Kaaba — which Muslims worldwide turn toward for prayer — and the destination of the Hajj pilgrimage, one of the faith’s Five Pillars or main tenets.
The accusation came as fighting intensified in Yemen, as the internationally recognised government’s military said it had carried out strikes on Houthi targets in Sana’a, Saada and Taiz.
A spokesman said the military had conducted a “high-value targeting operation” in Sana’a and struck 11 targets in Saada.
He added that 27 air strikes had targeted an “integrated military system” belonging to the Houthis in Taiz.
The Houthis, who control Sana’a and much of Yemen’s Red Sea coast, have repeatedly launched drones and missiles at Saudi Arabia since the kingdom intervened in Yemen’s civil war in 2015.
Any confirmed attack on either Mecca or Medina would put the perpetrators beyond the pale in the eyes of virtually the entire Muslim world, Shia and Sunni alike.
Ankara blasts ‘provocative attacks’
Turkey strongly condemned the alleged attack and voiced support for Saudi Arabia.
“We strongly condemn the Houthis’ attack on civilian infrastructure” in Medina, the foreign ministry said.
“These provocative attacks, which threaten Saudi Arabia’s sovereignty and security and target the sacred values of the Islamic world, must cease immediately and unconditionally.”
Turkey said it reiterated its “strong support for Saudi Arabia” and called for steps to prevent further escalation.
Qatar also condemned the attack. In a statement, Doha said it was “a grave assault on the sanctity of Islamic holy sites”, a violation of Saudi sovereignty and international law.
It reaffirmed its “full solidarity” with Riyadh and said the kingdom’s security was integral to Gulf security.
The League of Arab States joined the condemnation, calling the attack “an unacceptable transgression”.
The organisation said the attack “provokes the sentiments of Muslims worldwide” and represented a dangerous escalation.
Al-Azhar, the Cairo-based institute of Sunni Islamic learning, also denounced the incident, stating that “targeting Medina provokes the sentiments of Muslims worldwide”.
The Houthis are Zaydi Shia Muslims, a specific branch of Islam historically rooted in northern Yemen that is theologically distinct from both the Twelver Shia Islam dominant in Iran and Saudi Arabia’s Wahhabi-influenced Sunni tradition.
The group formally known as Ansar Allah is tied to Tehran’s so-called Axis of Resistance — a loose network of militant groups in several countries in the region including Hezbollah in Lebanon, Hamas in Gaza and militias in Iraq, all backed, trained and equipped by the IRGC to varying degrees.