Houthis deny launching drone after Saudi-led coalition reports interception in Makkah

Yemen's Houthi movement denied launching an attack against Saudi Arabia on Friday after the Saudi-led coalition said it had intercepted and destroyed a drone launched by the group over the Makkah region.

Yemen’s Houthi movement denied launching an attack against Saudi Arabia on Friday after the Saudi-led coalition said it had intercepted and destroyed a drone launched by the group over the Makkah region.

Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree dismissed the coalition’s account as false, saying the group had not carried out any operation against Saudi territory that day. He said Houthi operations targeted Saudi oil facilities and military bases.

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“A drone launched by the Houthi terrorist militia was intercepted and destroyed in the Makkah region,” coalition spokesman Turki al-Maliki said in a post on X.

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Earlier on Friday, al-Maliki said the coalition’s air defences had intercepted and destroyed a Houthi cruise missile targeting western Saudi Arabia.

The rival statements came amid renewed hostilities between the Saudi-led coalition and the Houthis.

The Houthis said on Thursday that they had carried out six attacks against targets in Saudi Arabia, including oil facilities and airports.

The Saudi-led coalition intervened in Yemen’s civil war in March 2015 in support of the internationally recognised government, after the Houthis seized the capital Sanaa in 2014.

Yemeni army investigates allegations of Houthi use of toxic substances in Taiz

Yemen’s armed forces said on Thursday they were investigating reports that Houthi forces had used projectiles suspected of containing toxic substances in the southwestern province of Taiz, allegedly causing poisoning and breathing difficulties among civilians and fighters.

In a statement, the Defence Ministry said it was taking field reports from front lines in Taiz seriously and had called for an urgent investigation to identify the substances, assess their effects and establish who was responsible for supplying them.

The military said the reports came amid continued Houthi attacks in the province, including sniper fire, shelling of residential areas and restrictions on roads that it said had obstructed access to water, food, medicine and other essential supplies.

The armed forces said protecting civilians and lifting the blockade of Taiz remained the responsibility of the state and its military.

The ministry urged the United Nations and other international organisations to support an investigation into the allegations and help ensure that humanitarian aid reached civilians without obstruction.

It also called for international pressure to reopen roads and said those responsible for attacks on civilians, including their commanders, should be held accountable.

Taiz has been a major battleground in Yemen’s civil war, with government forces and Houthi fighters contesting control of the province for more than a decade.