Saudi-Led Coalition Accuses Houthis of Drone Strike on Medina Power Station Serving Prophet's Mosque

The Saudi-led military coalition has accused Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis of striking an electricity station in the Saudi holy city of Medina that supplies power to the Prophet's Mosque, an allegation the group denies.

Coalition spokesman Major General Turki al-Maliki said a drone hit the Taibah electricity distribution station at 5:11 a.m. on Sept. 29, knocking one transformer out of service without affecting the wider grid, according to CNA. The coalition made the accusation public on Thursday.

Al-Maliki said investigators had confirmed Houthi involvement based on an after-action review and drone wreckage. "This cowardly terrorist act, targeting a civilian facility providing electricity to the Prophet's Mosque in Madinah, is a continuation of this extremist militia's attempts to target the Two Holy Mosques," he said.

Houthis reject the accusation

A Houthi military source quoted by the group's Saba news agency dismissed the claim as a "lie", Al Jazeera reported, saying it was meant to cover up what he described as Riyadh's failure to back up an earlier accusation that the Houthis had targeted Mecca. A senior Houthi official also rejected suggestions that the movement had targeted Islamic holy sites, according to Houthi media cited by CNA.

The coalition said separately that on Thursday it had intercepted four Houthi drones over the southern city of Khamis Mushait and two ballistic missiles over Khamis Mushait and Jazan.

Regional condemnation

Turkey's foreign ministry said: "We strongly condemn the Houthis' attack on civilian infrastructure." Qatar called the incident "a grave assault on the sanctity of Islamic holy sites", while the Arab League described it as "an unacceptable transgression", CNA reported.

Attacks connected to Islam's holiest cities are rare, although the Houthis have repeatedly fired drones and missiles at Saudi Arabia since the kingdom intervened in Yemen's civil war in 2015.

A widening front

The accusation comes amid intensifying fighting inside Yemen. Saudi-backed government forces said they were repelling a large Houthi offensive in Taiz province, Al Jazeera reported, and AFP journalists heard explosions in the Houthi-held capital Sanaa on Thursday evening, according to CNA.

Last month the Houthis took the Red Sea city of Mocha, tightening their hold around the Bab el-Mandeb strait, a key route for oil shipments to the Suez Canal. Reuters has reported that the Houthis' push towards the strait has handed Iran's allies a second pressure point on global energy routes alongside the Strait of Hormuz.