Saudi Arabia's air defences intercepted and destroyed a drone south of Mecca on Tuesday before it entered restricted airspace, according to the Saudi-led military coalition, which attributed the launch to Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthi rebels. Coalition spokesperson Turki al-Malki — named Turki al-Maliki by Al Jazeera — said the security of Islam's two holiest sites and of pilgrims was a "red line" and that the coalition would take necessary deterrent measures. Saudi civil defence issued brief alerts warning of potential danger in Mecca, Jeddah and Taif; the alerts were lifted within minutes. A Houthi military source, in comments carried by the Houthi-run SABA news agency, denied that the group posed any threat to Mecca or other holy sites.
Saudi-led coalition says it intercepted drone near Mecca; Houthis deny threatening holy sites
Saudi Arabia's air defences intercepted and destroyed a drone south of Mecca on Tuesday before it entered restricted airspace, according to the Saudi-led military coalition, which attributed the launch to Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthi rebels. Coalition spokesperson Turki al-Malki — named Turki al-Maliki by Al Jazeera — said the security of Islam's two holiest sites and of pilgrims was a "red line" and that the coalition would take necessary deterrent measures. Saudi civil defence issued brief alerts warning of potential danger in Mecca, Jeddah and Taif; the alerts were lifted within minutes. A Houthi military source, in comments carried by the Houthi-run SABA news agency, denied that the group posed any threat to Mecca or other holy sites.
According to Al Jazeera, the reported interception was the first time in nearly a decade that a security alert had been activated in Mecca, and the alert was deactivated after a few minutes; the same alert was activated for Taif and Jeddah, which Al Jazeera describes as Saudi Arabia's second-largest city. ABC News Australia reports that Saudi Arabia issued security alerts across parts of the country on Tuesday, including in Mecca and in the Jeddah and Taif regions, and that the alerts, including the first issued in Mecca since the Middle East war began, were quickly lifted according to the Saudi civil defence. The Directorate of Saudi Civil Defense posted on X that "the danger has passed in Mecca City" and urged people to follow its instructions and avoid gathering and filming, according to The Times of India.
The reported drone incident follows a period of intensified Houthi attacks. ABC News Australia reports the Houthis have launched a string of attacks against Saudi Arabia in recent weeks and announced several major attacks in the past week, including strikes on an air base on Monday that the group said were retaliation for air strikes on Yemen. Al Jazeera reports the conflict dates to 2015, when Saudi Arabia intervened in Yemen after the Houthis seized Sanaa and ousted the internationally recognised government, that a UN-brokered truce in April 2022 largely halted Houthi attacks on Saudi territory, and that hostilities escalated again after the group declared a blockade on Saudi shipping in July and gained control of critical nodes on Yemen's Bab al-Mandeb coastline; in early September, the group launched missiles and drones at sites across Saudi Arabia. Riyadh has accused the Houthis of attacking civilian and economic sites in the kingdom, Al Jazeera reports.
On casualties, Al Jazeera reports that the Saudi-led coalition said it would respond "firmly" to Houthi strikes on urban areas that injured 13 people in the Saudi cities of Khamis Mushait, Abha and Taif on Tuesday. The Times of India reports the alerts came a day after ballistic missiles and drones launched from Yemen injured 13 people in southern Saudi Arabia, according to AFP, and France 24 lists the wounding of 13 people in the kingdom's south among the previous day's developments.
Mecca is home to the Kaaba, Islam's holiest site, and is the focal point of the annual hajj pilgrimage, one of the five pillars of Islam, which millions of Muslims undertake each year. Al Jazeera reports Saudi Arabia welcomed around 1.7 million Muslims for the Hajj season in late May, that millions travel to Mecca throughout the year for the optional Umrah pilgrimage, and that Mecca received more than 11.7 million Umrah pilgrims between September and October 2025. Hajj has been restricted only during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, when Saudi Arabia barred foreign Muslims from performing the pilgrimage. It remains to be seen whether the attacks on Saudi Arabia will affect pilgrimage to Mecca, Al Jazeera reports.
Regionally, ABC News Australia reports that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman met Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi in Cairo, with the crown prince saying in a statement that they confirmed "their shared commitment to ensuring freedom and security of maritime navigation" in the Red Sea and the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, and el-Sisi's office issuing a statement expressing "Egypt's unwavering position in supporting Saudi Arabia." Neither side gave firm details on future steps, and Egypt is unlikely to offer military help to Saudi Arabia, according to the report. France 24 also reports the Cairo meeting covered freedom and security of navigation in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait and the Red Sea.
Arab News reports that Saudi Arabia's Council of Ministers, in a session chaired by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Jeddah, condemned what it described as continued criminal and deliberate attacks by the Houthi militia on civilian targets and civilians in the kingdom, and reaffirmed Riyadh's right to defend its sovereignty, citizens, residents and vital interests in accordance with the UN Charter and international law. During the meeting the crown prince briefed ministers on a phone call from Pakistan's Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif and on the outcomes of his meeting with Admiral Brad Cooper, commander of US Central Command, according to Arab News.
ABC News Australia reports that the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation condemned the incident as a "heinous" Houthi attack. It also reports that the vulnerability of Saudi oil production was underscored by an attack days earlier that damaged the kingdom's biggest pipeline, reportedly carried out by Iran's allied militias in Iraq, and that regional officials say the East-West Pipeline will be largely shut down for weeks while repaired, likely taking several million barrels of oil a day off the market. Al Jazeera reports the Houthis have seized control of parts of Yemen's Red Sea coast overlooking the Bab el-Mandeb, one of the world's most important shipping straits, threatening Saudi oil exports rerouted from the Strait of Hormuz, according to ABC News Australia.
France 24 reports that several explosions were heard on the island of Qeshm, near the Strait of Hormuz, and that the US Defense Department's inspector general revealed the United States faces a shortfall in ammunition as a result of its costly war in Iran, which has cost the US $38 billion so far.
Where sources differ
- Whether this was a first or repeat attempt on Mecca: ABC News Australia, citing coalition spokesperson Turki al-Malki, reports the incident was the second Houthi attempt to target Mecca, following what the coalition said was a ballistic missile launch in July 2017. Al Jazeera reports the Mecca security alert was activated for the first time since the Houthis last attempted to target the sacred area in 2017 and was the first such alert in nearly a decade. The Times of India describes the warning for Mecca as "the first-ever live emergency missile & drone warning."
- Timing of the strikes that injured 13 people: Al Jazeera dates the strikes on Khamis Mushait, Abha and Taif to Tuesday, the same day as the reported drone interception, while The Times of India and France 24 place the wounding of 13 people a day before the alerts.
- Spelling of the coalition spokesperson's name: ABC News Australia gives Turki al-Malki; Al Jazeera gives Turki al-Maliki.
- Attribution of the interception: France 24 states that Saudi Arabia's air defences "claim to have" intercepted and destroyed the drone, a formulation that attributes the account to Saudi Arabia, while Al Jazeera and ABC News Australia report the interception as stated by coalition officials without that qualifier.
- Description of prior attacks: Al Jazeera reports in early September the Houthis launched missiles and drones at sites across Saudi Arabia, while ABC News Australia places the major announced attacks in the past week, including a strike on an air base on Monday.
- No independent verification of the coalition's account: none of the sources establishes that the drone was launched by the Houthis, whether it was armed, or what target it was directed at; the interception rests on Saudi and coalition statements.
- No comment from the Iranian government is reported in any source, despite the Houthis being repeatedly described as Iran-aligned.
- No claim of responsibility by the Houthis for the reported drone; the group instead denies posing a threat to Mecca or other holy sites.
- No explanation from Saudi civil defence of what triggered the alerts in Mecca, Jeddah and Taif, or whether they related to the same drone.
- No casualty or damage figures are reported for the drone incident itself.
- Neither Saudi Arabia nor Egypt gave firm details on any future steps, and the nature of any Egyptian assistance is not established.
- Whether the attacks will affect pilgrimage to Mecca is left open by Al Jazeera.
- The number and exact timing of Houthi attacks in the preceding period is not consistently established across sources.
- The identity and affiliation of the militias reportedly behind the pipeline attack in Iraq is attributed to regional officials via ABC News Australia and is not independently confirmed in the supplied sources.
- ABC News Australia — original
- France 24 — by FRANCE 24
- Al Jazeera English — by Noor Kareem
- The Times of India — by PRIYANKA JAISWAL
- Arab News — by Arab News
Read the original at ABC News Australia