The Saudi-led coalition has accused Yemen’s Houthis of attacking a power distribution station that serves Madina’s Prophet’s Mosque, one of Islam’s holiest sites. The accusation comes as fighting between the two sides continues to escalate after a long period of relative calm.
According to the coalition, the attack took place earlier this week and put one transformer out of service. Officials stressed that the wider electricity network remained unaffected. An investigation of drone wreckage, they said, confirmed Houthi involvement in planning and carrying out the strike on the station in Madina.
Hours after the coalition made the claim, the Houthis reported Saudi airstrikes on the Yemeni capital Sanaa and the provinces of Saada, Taiz and Amran. There was no immediate confirmation from Saudi Arabia. Saudi-backed Yemeni government forces later stated on social media that they had conducted more than two dozen strikes against Houthi positions in Taiz, targeting missile storage sites, command centres and other military locations.
This round of violence is the most serious between Saudi Arabia and the Iran-aligned Houthis since a United Nations-brokered truce largely stopped cross-border attacks in 2022. Hostilities restarted this year after the Houthis announced a naval blockade on Saudi Arabia in July and began hitting Saudi territory and shipping. At the same time, Houthi forces made major gains along Yemen’s Red Sea coast.
Saudi Arabia has responded with airstrikes inside Yemen and by supporting government troops fighting to push the Houthis back. The coalition described the Madina incident as part of repeated Houthi attempts to target the Two Holy Mosques and provoke Muslims around the world. It said it would continue taking all necessary steps to protect the holy sites and pilgrims.
A Houthi military source, quoted by the group’s Saba news agency, rejected the accusation as a “lie.” The source claimed the charge was meant to cover up what he called Saudi Arabia’s failure to prove an earlier claim that the Houthis had tried to target Mecca. Two weeks ago Saudi Arabia said it had intercepted and destroyed a Houthi drone south of Mecca before it entered restricted airspace. The coalition called that the second such attempt since 2017, while the Houthis denied aiming at any Islamic holy site.
The reported strike on Sanaa would be the first since July, when Saudi-backed forces hit the runway at Sanaa airport to stop an Iranian plane from landing. Both sides appear determined to keep up the pressure, raising concerns that the conflict could widen further in the coming weeks.
