Oct 1 – The Saudi-led coalition fighting Yemen’s Houthi movement said Thursday that the group had attacked a power distribution station in Medina that supplies electricity to the Prophet’s Mosque, one of Islam’s holiest sites.
According to the coalition, the attack took place Tuesday and damaged one transformer at the facility. It said the transformer was taken out of service, but the incident did not disrupt the wider electricity network or affect power supplies to the holy site.
The Houthis rejected the accusation. A Houthi military source quoted by the Houthi-run Saba news agency described the coalition’s account as false and denied that the group had targeted the power station in Medina.
The competing claims came as fighting between Saudi Arabia and the Iran-aligned Houthis intensified, marking the most serious escalation between the two sides since a United Nations-brokered truce largely brought an end to cross-border attacks in 2022.
Fighting intensifies as both sides trade accusations
The Saudi-led coalition said an investigation into the Medina incident, including an examination of drone wreckage, had established what it described as Houthi involvement in planning and carrying out the attack.
The coalition said the strike was part of repeated attempts by the Houthis to target Saudi Arabia’s two holiest Islamic sites, the Prophet’s Mosque in Medina and the Grand Mosque in Mecca. It accused the group of seeking to provoke Muslims around the world and said Saudi forces would continue taking measures to protect the holy sites and pilgrims.
The Houthis, however, rejected the accusation and accused Saudi Arabia of using the Medina claim to divert attention from an earlier dispute involving Mecca.
Saba news agency quoted a Houthi military source as calling the Saudi-led coalition’s statement a “lie.” The source said the accusation was intended to cover what he described as Saudi Arabia’s failure to substantiate an earlier claim that the Houthis had attempted to target Mecca.
Saudi Arabia said about two weeks earlier that its forces had intercepted and destroyed a Houthi drone south of Mecca before it could enter restricted airspace over the city. The Saudi-led coalition described that incident as the second Houthi attempt to target Mecca since 2017.
The Houthis denied that accusation as well, saying they had not targeted Mecca or any other Islamic holy site.
The latest dispute over the Medina power station came alongside reports of further Saudi airstrikes and Houthi attacks across Yemen and Saudi territory.
Houthi media reported Saudi strikes on Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, as well as areas in Saada, Taiz and Amran. There was no immediate confirmation from Saudi authorities regarding those reported strikes.
A spokesperson for Yemen’s armed forces, which are aligned with the internationally recognized government, said coalition forces had carried out attacks against what he called “high-value targets” in Sanaa. The spokesperson did not provide further details about the targets or the damage caused.
The Houthis also reported attacks against Saudi-led coalition positions. According to local officials, early Friday the group launched several ballistic missiles and drones toward the headquarters of the Saudi-led coalition forces command in Aden.
There was no immediate response from either the Saudi-led coalition or the Houthis regarding the reported Aden attack.
The coalition separately said it had intercepted and destroyed a ballistic missile launched by the Houthis toward Khamis Mushait, a city in southern Saudi Arabia. The coalition did not immediately provide information about possible casualties or damage from the missile.
The escalation reflects a significant deterioration in relations between Saudi Arabia and the Houthis after years of relative calm along the countries’ shared border.
The conflict in Yemen has continued for more than a decade, with the Houthis controlling large parts of the country, including Sanaa, while Saudi Arabia has backed Yemen’s internationally recognized government and led a military coalition against the movement.
A UN-brokered truce in 2022 sharply reduced cross-border attacks and brought a period of relative calm, although a comprehensive political settlement remained unresolved. The latest fighting has now reopened concerns that the conflict could enter another prolonged period of escalation.
The renewed hostilities began after the Houthis declared a naval blockade on Saudi Arabia in July and started attacking Saudi territory and shipping, according to the account provided by the Saudi-led coalition. Houthi forces have also made significant territorial gains along Yemen’s Red Sea coast.
Saudi Arabia has responded with airstrikes inside Yemen while supporting government forces attempting to push back the Houthi advance.
The fighting also carries wider regional implications because of the Houthis’ relationship with Iran and their position along the Red Sea, a major route for international shipping. Attacks on shipping and military targets have repeatedly raised concerns about the security of commercial routes linking the Middle East with global markets.
For Saudi Arabia, the latest attacks have also brought the security of its major cities and religious sites back into focus. Medina is home to the Prophet’s Mosque, which attracts millions of Muslim visitors and pilgrims. Any attack affecting infrastructure connected to the mosque therefore carries significance beyond the immediate military confrontation.
The coalition has maintained that protecting the Two Holy Mosques is a central security priority and that it will respond to threats against them. The Houthis have repeatedly denied accusations that they deliberately target Islamic holy sites.
The conflicting accounts surrounding the Medina incident could not immediately be independently reconciled. The coalition cited its investigation and examination of drone debris as evidence of Houthi involvement, while the Houthi military source rejected the claim without accepting responsibility for the attack.
As fighting continued, reports of airstrikes in Yemen, missile launches toward Saudi Arabia and drone attacks added to uncertainty over whether the latest escalation would remain limited or develop into a broader confrontation.
The immediate focus remained on the competing military claims and whether further attacks would follow. With both sides accusing each other of escalating the conflict, the latest clashes have raised fresh questions about the durability of the relative calm that followed the 2022 truce.