Saudi-led coalition says Houthis attacked power station feeding Medina's Prophet's Mosque

The Saudi-led coalition fighting Yemen’s Houthis says the Iran-aligned group carried out a drone attack this week on a power distribution station in Medina that supplies electricity to the Prophet’s Mosque, one of Islam’s holiest sites. The coalition announced the allegation on Thursday; the Houthis deny it. Reuters Al Jazeera

Coalition spokesman Maj Gen Turki al-Maliki said the strike hit the Taibah electricity distribution station at about 5:11am local time on Tuesday, knocking one transformer out of service without affecting the wider electricity network. He said an investigation and examination of the drone wreckage confirmed Houthi involvement in planning and carrying out what he described as a “cowardly terrorist act”. Express Tribune

The coalition accused the Houthis of repeated attempts to target the Two Holy Mosques and “provoke” Muslims worldwide, and said it would continue measures to protect the holy sites and pilgrims. A Houthi military source quoted by the Houthi-run Saba news agency called the accusation a “lie”, saying it was intended to cover up Saudi Arabia’s failure to substantiate its earlier claim that the Houthis had targeted Mecca. Al Jazeera Al Arabiya

The allegation is the most serious escalation between Saudi Arabia and the Houthis since a UN-brokered truce largely halted cross-border attacks in 2022; hostilities resumed this year after the Houthis declared a naval blockade on Saudi Arabia in July and began attacking Saudi territory and shipping. Saudi Arabia said two weeks ago it had intercepted a Houthi drone south of Mecca before it entered restricted airspace. Reuters

Separately on Thursday, the coalition said it intercepted four drones and two ballistic missiles over Khamis Mushait and Jazan, and Saudi Arabia announced $59.7 million in budget funding for Yemen’s internationally recognised government, while the Yemeni army claimed it killed dozens of Houthi fighters in Taiz. Al Jazeera