Drone launched by Houthis intercepted, destroyed over Mecca, Saudi-led coalition says

 The Saudi-led coalition intercepted and destroyed a drone launched by Yemen's Houthis in the Mecca region, the coalition said in a statement on Friday.

The reported incident is the latest in a series of cross-border attacks by the Iran-aligned Houthis on Saudi Arabia, involving drones and missiles targeting military installations, airports and energy infrastructure.

Yemen's Houthis denied launching any attack towards Saudi Arabia on Friday, after the Saudi-led coalition said it had intercepted and destroyed a drone launched by the group over the Mecca region.

Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree dismissed the coalition's account as false in a post on X/Twitter, saying the group had not carried out any operation towards Saudi territory. He said its operations target Saudi oil facilities and military bases.

The group has repeatedly denied targeting Mecca and Medina, Islam's two holiest cities, rejecting previous Saudi-led coalition accusations that it had launched drones towards the cities.

Yemen's Houthis say they attacked Saudi Ras Tanura refinery

On Thursday, the Houthis claimed to have attacked several refineries and airports in Saudi Arabia.

The locations include Saudi Arabia's Ras Tanura oil refinery, which is the largest in the kingdom, the Rabigh refinery, and an Aramco facility in Abqaiq, as well as King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh and King Fahd International Airport in Dammam.

There was no immediate confirmation from Saudi authorities of the Houthi claims.