Saudi issues another alert for Mecca, Jeddah over potential threat
text_fields
Riyadh: Saudi Arabia’s Civil Defence issued a “potential danger” warning for the holy city of Mecca on Thursday, along with alerts for several other regions. Such warnings generally indicate a potential threat from missiles.
“The National Early Warning Platform has issued a warning in Mecca City to alert of a potential danger,” the agency said in a post on its official X account.
This was the second warning issued for Mecca in less than 10 days. The city is home to Islam’s holiest site, the Grand Mosque.
Separate warnings were also issued for other areas along Saudi Arabia’s western coast, including the Red Sea governorate of Yanbu, as well as the Taef, Jeddah and Tabuk regions.
According to news agency AFP, the alerts were lifted within a few minutes. In recent weeks, similar warnings have preceded attacks by Yemen’s Houthis, an armed group backed by Iran.
Last week, Saudi Arabia accused the Houthis of targeting Mecca with a drone that was intercepted and downed. The kingdom said it was the first such attempt since 2017. The Houthis have denied the allegation.
The previous warning, issued on September 15, came after Saudi air defences intercepted and destroyed a Houthi drone south of Mecca before it could enter the prohibited airspace.
A few days later, the Houthis targeted the Saudi capital Riyadh for the first time in years, marking a fresh escalation in the conflict.
The Iran-backed Houthis and the Saudi-backed Yemeni government have been involved in renewed fighting amid Tehran’s war with the United States. The conflict intensified after the armed group declared a maritime blockade against the kingdom and began targeting its ships in the Red Sea.
Earlier this month, the Houthis seized control of strategic coastal areas overlooking the Bab al-Mandab Strait, a vital route for Saudi oil exports, after capturing territory from Saudi-backed government forces.