The Saudi-led coalition announced on Thursday that Yemen's Houthi rebels attacked a power distribution station in the holy city of Medina this week, an act the Houthis have denied.
According to the coalition, the attack occurred on Tuesday and disabled a transformer, although it did not disrupt the city's overall power grid. The station is critically important as it also supplies electricity to the Prophet's Mosque, one of the most sacred sites in Islam.
The coalition stated that an examination of the site and the remnants of a drone indicated that the Houthis designed and executed the attack. It described the incident as part of the Houthis' repeated efforts to target holy sites.
In response, a Houthi military source, quoted by the Houthi-run Saba news agency, dismissed the accusation as a "lie." The source claimed that Saudi Arabia was faicating the charge to distract from its previous failure to substantiate a claim that the Houthis had targeted Mecca.
Two weeks ago, Saudi Arabia announced it had intercepted a Houthi drone south of Mecca. The coalition called it the second Houthi attempt to target the city since 2017. The Houthis, however, have consistently denied targeting Mecca or other Islamic holy sites.
The Saudi-led coalition characterized the attack on Medina as an attempt to "provoke" Muslims worldwide and affirmed its commitment to protecting holy places and pilgrims.
The recent clashes mark the most significant escalation in tensions between Saudi Arabia and the Iran-backed Houthis since a UN-okered ceasefire in 2022 largely halted cross-border attacks. Hostilities intensified again this year after the Houthis announced a naval blockade of Saudi Arabia in July and increased attacks on Saudi territory and shipping, prompting renewed Saudi airstrikes in Yemen.
Source: Saba News Agency, Saudi-led coalition
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