Dbarta24 Desk — Tensions between the Saudi-led military coalition and Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi movement escalated following claims of a targeted drone strike on critical infrastructure supplying power to the Al-Masjid an-Nabawi (the Prophet’s Mosque) in Medina.
According to a statement released by the coalition, Houthi rebels launched a drone attack targeting an electrical power station in Medina.
Investigators concluded after examining drone debris at the scene that the Houthis orchestrated and executed the strike, which disabled a main transformer at the facility. Coalition authorities confirmed, however, that primary power grid operations were not disrupted.
The Houthis swiftly rejected the allegations. Speaking through the Houthi-aligned Saba News Agency, a military source called the coalition’s claims baseless. The source asserted that the allegation was designed to deflect attention from earlier unproven coalition claims regarding an alleged Houthi attempted strike on Mecca.
The incident follows an assertion by Saudi authorities nearly two weeks ago that a Houthi drone was intercepted and destroyed south of Mecca before entering city airspace.
While the coalition claims the Houthis have repeatedly targeted holy Islamic sites to provoke regional instability, Houthi officials continue to deny launching operations aimed at Mecca, Medina, or other religious locations.
Meanwhile, Houthi sources accused the Saudi-led coalition of launching fresh airstrikes targeting Sana’a and other regions across Yemen.
A spokesman for the Yemeni government’s armed forces confirmed that coalition forces struck “important targets” in Sana’a, though specific details regarding casualties or damage were withheld.
In related military activity, the Saudi coalition reported intercepting a Houthi ballistic missile vectoring toward the southern Saudi city of Khamis Mushait.
Additionally, local officials reported that Houthi forces launched multiple drones and ballistic missiles toward the Saudi coalition command headquarters in Aden, though neither side has formally issued a breakdown of casualties or damages from that engagement.