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Jeddah, The Royal Saudi Air Defense Forces intercepted and destroyed two missiles launched from Yemen by the Houthi militias on Monday.
The missiles were reported to have been heading toward Makkah and Jeddah.
A spokesman for the Arab Coalition said that the missiles were destroyed over Taif in the early morning, and that fragments from the first projectile had landed in Wadi Jalil, a valley that extends toward Makkah.
This is not the first time that Houthi militias have targeted Makkah, having fired on the city in July 2017.
Videos circulating on social media reportedly show the second missile being intercepted and destroyed in the skies over King Abdulaziz International Airport.
Bahrain’s Foreign Ministry denounced the Houthi attack and commended the Royal Saudi Air Defense Forces for their vigilance.
Dr. Hamdan AlShehri, a Riyadhbased Saudi political analyst and international relations scholar, said: This isn’t the first time that the Houthis fired missiles close to the holy city of Makkah.
They have no qualms about attacking the holiest place in Islam, he added.
They care nothing for the sanctity of the holy month of Ramadan. What they did today, and what they did in the past, clearly reveal their sinister designs to strike at the heart of the Muslim world, AlShehri said.
Now is the time for all Muslim nations in the world to come to the defense of the holy land. Our sacred places are under attack, he added.
Mere condemnation won’t do this calls for deterrent action, he said.
Yemen’s internationally recognized government also condemned the Houthis’ attempt to target Makkah, calling it a fullfledged terrorist attack.
Monday’s aggression came as Saudi Arabia warned that recent drone attacks against its oilpumping stations by the Houthis will jeopardize UN peace efforts in Yemen and lead to further escalation in the region.
Abdallah AlMouallimi, Saudi ambassador to the UN, said seven explosive drones directed by the Houthis attacked pumping stations on May 14 in the cities of Dawadmi and Afif on the eastwest oil pipeline that transfers Saudi oil to Yanbu port and to the rest of the world.
He urged UN Security Council members, in a letter circulated on Monday, to disarm this terrorist militia in order to prevent the escalation of these attacks which increase regional tensions and raise the risks of a broader regional confrontation.
Saudi security forces have intercepted and destroyed 227 ballistic missiles launched by the Houthis at the Kingdom since 2015.
Source: International Islamic News Agency