Saudi Arabia intercepts Houthi missile near Makkah

Yemen’s Houthi armed group executed a ballistic missile towards a Saudi air base just 69 kilometres from Islam’s holiest site Makkah yesterday, France24 Arabic reported.

Saudi defence systems intercepted the missile over the town of Taif, 69 kilometres south of Makkah.

Screenshot from Ansar Allah’s (Houthi) Telegram page

Houthi sources on social media application Telegram and other accounts confirmed that a missile was fired towards the King Fahd Air Base in Taif.

In a statement, the Arab Alliance said this was “a desperate attempt by the [Houthi] rebels to disrupt the [Hajj] pilgrimage”. The alliance claimed that the strike is evidence that weapons were being smuggled via the Hudaydah port in Yemen which the Houthis currently control.

Read: Houthis ‘down Saudi reconnaissance plane’

The Iranian-backed Houthi group frequently execute missile strikes and incursions inside Saudi Arabia.

The Saudi-led Arab Alliance has been targeting Houthi sites in Yemen in an effort to reinstate the UN-backed government of President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi who was forced out of  the country’s capital, Sana’a, in 2014 when the Houthis took control of it.