Saudi says Houthi drone attack targeted Mecca amid uncertain allied support

Cairo,UPDATED: Sep 16, 2026 16:40 IST

Saudi Arabia said Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi rebels tried to attack Mecca overnight, prompting condemnation from countries in the region, though there was no sign of military support for the kingdom. Riyadh called Mecca a "red line", while the Houthis denied firing drones towards the holy city.

The incident comes as Saudi Arabia faces pressure on several fronts, with Houthi attacks targeting infrastructure and shipping, and with uncertainty over outside backing. A new defence pact involving Saudi Arabia, Turkiye and Pakistan has yet to translate into operational support, while the United States has indicated it does not want to be drawn directly into the conflict.

Saudi authorities said they intercepted and destroyed the drone before it entered the airspace over Mecca, the birthplace of the Prophet Muhammad, around 1,100 kilometres from Yemen's border. The Houthis denied launching drones at the city. According to Col. Turki al-Maliki, spokesperson for the Saudi-led military coalition fighting the rebels, this was the second attempted Houthi attack on Mecca after a ballistic missile was fired towards the city in 2017.

The kingdom also faces wider disruption. A key Saudi pipeline is reportedly shut for weeks after an attack. The Houthis have been targeting infrastructure inside Saudi Arabia and its shipping on the Red Sea, where they have seized several islands on the Bab el-Mandeb Strait. At the same time, Iran is still targeting ships in the Strait of Hormuz. Oil prices remain above USD 100 a barrel.

The attacks are the first test of a new defence pact among Saudi Arabia, NATO member Turkiye and nuclear power Pakistan. However, officials from Turkiye and Pakistan told The Associated Press that they had not received any Saudi request for support in response to the Houthi escalation. A Turkish official said efforts to "institutionalise" the alliance still need to be completed before the pact becomes operational.

Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, while condemning the attempted drone attack on Mecca, said Pakistan and Saudi Arabia stand "unwaveringly, shoulder to shoulder". The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, which represents more than 57 Muslim states, also criticised the attempt, saying it violated the "sanctity of holy sites".

Later on Wednesday, the Houthis claimed, without providing evidence, that they had shot down an F-15 fighter jet operated by the Saudi-led coalition over Yemen's central Marib province. Houthi military spokesperson Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree did not say when it happened, and the claim could not be independently verified. The rebels have at times taken days to announce attacks. Spokespeople for the Saudi-led coalition and the Saudi government did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The United States, which has sold billions of dollars in weapons to Saudi Arabia and committed training and other support to help protect the kingdom, has shown little appetite to enter the fight directly. US President Donald Trump said on Saturday, "The Houthis called us, and they don't want to fight with us," adding that the rebels appeared focused on the Saudis. Vice President J.D. Vance said on Monday that Washington had been in "constant contact" with the Saudis and had been "engaged in direct conversations with the Houthis themselves", describing the situation as "a very fluid and dynamic thing" that needed to be monitored.

On the ground in Yemen, forces aligned with the internationally recognised government said they were regrouping to fight the Houthis after retreating in the face of the rebels' advance. But those forces remain a collection of armed groups with differing aims.

As Saudi Arabia weighed diplomacy against a stronger response to the Houthis, Iran's top diplomat Abbas Araghchi was in China, the biggest buyer of Iranian oil. After meeting him, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi called on the US and Iran to show restraint and reopen the Strait of Hormuz as soon as possible, and voiced concern over the spread of fighting to Yemen and the Red Sea, according to China's foreign ministry. There was no immediate comment from Araghchi. China has avoided direct involvement in the war, though President Xi Jinping again offered Beijing's help in ending it at the BRICS summit in New Delhi over the weekend.

Oil flows through the Strait of Hormuz have partly recovered as tankers take a route near Oman on the other side of the waterway with guidance from US forces. Estimates vary, partly because ships can switch off location systems, but average flows are put at 5 million to 7 million barrels a day, less than half of what moved before the war began with US and Israeli strikes on Iran on February 28. Overall, the Mecca accusation has sharpened tensions even as Saudi Arabia's military and diplomatic options remain unclear.

With PTI Inputs

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