Houthis deny launching drone toward Mecca region after Saudi-led coalition reports interception - 新华网

SANAA, Oct. 30 (Xinhua) -- Yemen's Houthi group denied launching any attacks against Saudi Arabia on Friday, after the Saudi-led coalition said it had intercepted a Houthi drone over the Mecca region.

In a statement posted on the social media platform X, Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Sarea rejected a Saudi claim that a drone had been intercepted over Mecca, calling it "false."

Sarea said the group carried out "no operations toward Saudi territory" on Friday.

The response came after Saudi-led coalition spokesperson Turki Al-Maliki wrote on X earlier in the day that a drone launched by the Houthi group was intercepted and destroyed in the Mecca region, home to Islam's holiest city.

Recent weeks have seen escalating cross-border hostilities between the two sides, with Saudi strikes hitting Houthi-held areas in Yemen and the Houthis launching missiles and drones toward Saudi Arabia.

Yemen has been mired in conflict since late 2014, when the Houthis seized Sanaa and much of northern Yemen, prompting the Saudi-led coalition to intervene in 2015 in support of the Yemeni government. ■