Saudi condemns Ansar Allah targeting Mecca

Riyadh: The Saudi-led coalition battling Yemen's Ansar Allah accused them on Wednesday of targeting Islam's holy city Mecca, sparking outrage across the Muslim world.
The Yemeni group swiftly rejected as a 'lie' Riyadh's statement that it had shot down a drone heading towards Mecca, which attracts millions of pilgrims each year.
Fresh fighting between the Ansar Allah and Yemen's Saudi-backed government has dragged in the kingdom, with the former declaring a maritime blockade on its ships in the Red Sea.
Last week, the Ansar Allah seized control of the entirety of Yemen's Red Sea coast and the Bab al Mandab Strait, a vital artery for Saudi oil exports as the wider Middle East war chokes off the Strait of Hormuz shipping route.
'The claims about targeting Mecca are a worn-out lie that has been used before and no longer fools anyone,' Hazem al Assad from the Ansar Allah politburo wrote on X.
'I saw a few people panicking, running to the window to see what happened,' a Mecca resident who asked for anonymity said.
'I think the alarm system creates panic... Life is normal in Mecca, and there have been previous incidents in Mecca so this isn't the first one.'
Saudi Arabia accused the Ansar Allah of launching attacks towards Mecca in an earlier conflict.
The Saudi coalition has vowed retaliation, saying that 'the security of the Two Holy Mosques and the pilgrims is a red line.'
Saudi Arabia had issued brief alerts on Tuesday over possible attacks in Mecca and across parts of the south.
'I won't hide that we were scared,' a second Mecca resident, also speaking on condition of anonymity, said, 'or you can say surprised'.
'Aren't they Muslims? They're targeting the holiest city. What's inside to target?'
Mecca hosts a large number of security forces, responsible for crowd control and securing the holy sites, particularly during the annual Haj gathering.
During this year's pilgrimage, the Saudi defence ministry released a video showing advanced air defence batteries positioned on the outskirts of Mecca.
The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation — a bloc of 57 Muslim countries — condemned the 'heinous attacks... against the city of Mecca and the Madinah region'.
Fighting flared in July when the Ansar Allah, who have for years controlled swathes of northern Yemen, launched a large-scale offensive against government forces.
The conflict in the Arabian Peninsula's poorest country has forced 82,000 people to flee their homes since the start of September, according to the United Nations.
Yemen's permanent representative at the UN, Abdullah al Saadi, said the government was fighting to restore 'national institutions across every inch' of the country, and called on the international community to take action against the Ansar Allah.
Saadi's plea came as Saudi Arabia and Egypt called for free navigation in the Red Sea.
De facto Saudi leader Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el Sisi called on Tuesday for 'ensuring the freedom and security of maritime navigation' through Hormuz and Bab al Mandab, which links the Red Sea with the Gulf of Aden.
The revival of Yemen's civil war, dormant since 2022, has left Riyadh scrambling to respond.
US media reported last week that the Saudi crown prince made a personal request to President Donald Trump for US intervention, but was turned down.
The Ansar Allah have insisted there is no threat to navigation in Bab al Mandab except for Saudi vessels, but any attacks in the waterway are likely to make it less attractive to shippers. — AFP