Yemen's Houthis claim they shot down Saudi fighter jet, deny targeting Mecca

Yemen's Houthis on Wednesday said they shot down a Saudi fighter jet, claiming they used munitions made by the group to target the warplane.

"The Yemeni Armed Forces, with Allah's aid and grace, succeeded in shooting down a Saudi F-15 fighter jet while it was carrying out hostile operations," Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree said on social media, while accusing Saudi Arabia of launching 450 strikes.

He said the aircraft had been targeted "using a locally made air-to-air missile".

The spokesman also dismissed Saudi claims that the Houthis had targeted Islam's holy city of Mecca.

"Our operations target its oil facilities and military bases, which are far removed from the sacred sites," he said, adding that "fabrications and lies propagated by the criminal al-Saud regime cannot deceive anyone."

The Saudi coalition vowed retaliation, warning that the security of holy sites was a "red line".

"The security of the Two Holy Mosques and the pilgrims is a red line, and the Joint Forces Command of the Coalition will not hesitate to take the necessary and deterrent measures against the terrorist Houthi militia," the coalition said in a statement shared by spokesman Turki al-Maliki on X.

Saudi Arabia had issued brief alerts on Tuesday over possible attacks in Mecca and across swathes of the kingdom's south, which borders Yemen.

The alerts, including the first one issued in Mecca since the Iran war erupted in February, came a day after a wave of ballistic missile and drone attacks launched from Yemen wounded 13 people in the kingdom's south.

Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif condemned on Wednesday "in the strongest possible terms the dastardly and heinous" attack on Mecca.

"The people of Pakistan are saddened and perturbed by this outrageous act," he said on X.

The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, a 57-member bloc of Muslim-majority countries, also condemned the "heinous" attack.

The Houthis are Zaydi Shia Muslims, a specific branch of Islam historically rooted in northern Yemen that is theologically distinct from both the Twelver Shia Islam dominant in Iran and Saudi Arabia's Wahhabi-influenced Sunni tradition.

Mecca is Islam's holiest site, home to the Kaaba — which Muslims worldwide turn toward for prayer — and the destination of the Hajj pilgrimage, one of the faith's Five Pillars or main tenets.

Any confirmed attack on the city would put the perpetrators beyond the pale in the eyes of virtually the entire Muslim world, Shia and Sunni alike.

Warnings over Bab el-Mandeb spike

Formally known as Ansar Allah, the Houthis have been engaged in renewed fighting with the internationally recognised government forces since Yemen's civil war reignited in July.

The fighting in the Arabian Peninsula's poorest country has forced 82,000 people to flee their homes since the start of September, according to the UN.

Yemen's permanent representative at the UN Abdullah al-Saadi said his compatriots were fighting to restore "national institutions across every inch of their land", and called on the international community to take action against the Houthis.

The group has also declared a maritime blockade on Saudi Arabia and has been targeting its ships in the Red Sea.

In a lightning offensive last week, the Houthis seized control of the entirety of Yemen's Red Sea coast and the Bab el-Mandeb strait.

One of the world's crucial waterways connecting the Indian Ocean to the Red Sea and the main chokehold on the cargo route to the Mediterranean and Europe has become vital to Saudi crude exports as the wider Middle East war chokes the Strait of Hormuz in the Gulf.

The Houthis have insisted that there is no threat to navigation in the Bab el-Mandeb except for Saudi vessels.

Any attacks in the waterway are likely to make it less attractive to shippers.

Disruption in the strait could also endanger Egypt, as the Red Sea serves as the gateway to the Suez Canal, on which Cairo relies for crucial foreign revenue.

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi called on Tuesday for "ensuring the freedom and security of maritime navigation" through the Hormuz and Bab el-Mandeb, the Egyptian presidency said.

On Tuesday, Qatar warned of dire consequences if Bab el-Mandeb was closed, saying it would be "catastrophic for the entire world".

US media reported last week that the Saudi crown prince made a personal request to President Donald Trump for US intervention, but it was turned down. Neither Riyadh nor Washington have issued any statements regarding these reports.

However, a US military task force is working to enhance intelligence-sharing and planning assistance for Saudi forces as they face attacks, a US official told AFP on Tuesday.

Canal revenues are currently around half of what they were before the Houthis first started attacking Red Sea shipping in 2023, a campaign they said was in solidarity with Palestinians during the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.

The Houthis have also targeted oil infrastructure in Saudi Arabia, the world's leading crude exporter, pushing global prices above the $100-a-barrel threshold.

The Saudi-led coalition said it would deal with the attacks "firmly to protect the sovereignty of the Kingdom", and would take "all necessary operational measures to deter this ... hostile and extremist approach".

The Houthis are tied to Tehran's so-called Axis of Resistance — a loose network of militant groups in several countries in the region including Hezbollah in Lebanon, Hamas in Gaza and militias in Iraq, all backed, trained and equipped by the IRGC to varying degrees.