Mecca in crosshairs again: Saudi Arabia sounds alarm for holy city for 2nd time in a month
Saudi Arabia issued an emergency alert for Mecca on Thursday amid an escalation in attacks by Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis, warning of potential danger in the holy city for the first time during the latest flare-up.The alert was later lifted, with Saudi Civil Defence saying the danger had passed and urging residents to follow safety instructions and avoid gathering or filming. Mecca is home to Islam’s holiest site, the Grand Mosque.Saudi Arabia’s Saudi-led coalition in Yemen also said it had intercepted six ballistic missiles fired by the Houthis at areas including Taif and Yanbu. It was not immediately clear whether the attacks caused any casualties or damage.Saudi authorities had first issued a brief warning for Mecca, Jeddah and Taif on September 15, with the Mecca alert marking the first such warning during the latest escalation.“Any escalation and violations by the terrorist Houthi militia will be dealt with firmly,” the Saudi-led coalition said after Thursday’s attacks.The Houthis declared a naval blockade against Saudi Arabia in July, opening another theatre in the wider regional conflict. The group has also seized much of Yemen’s western coastline, bringing it closer to the strategic Bab el-Mandeb waterway.The latest escalation comes alongside renewed fighting in Yemen’s civil war. Houthi forces have been pushing against the Riyadh-backed government, while government forces earlier repelled overnight attacks on the Taiz-Aden road, a key supply route to the southern port city of Aden.The fighting is the latest episode in Yemen’s 12-year civil war, which had largely been frozen since a 2022 truce. The Houthis seized the capital Sanaa in 2014, prompting a Saudi-led military intervention the following year in support of the internationally recognised government.More than 700 people have been killed and thousands wounded in the latest fighting, according to the United Nations. Nearly 130,000 Yemenis have been displaced within Yemen, while more than 3,000 have fled by boat across the Red Sea to Africa.
