The military coalition led by Saudi Arabia said on Thursday it intercepted a cruise missile over the province of Medina, which contains the second holiest city in the Muslim religion.
The coalition also released more footage of Houthi missile strikes against civilian airports in Saudi Arabia, a practice the Houthis said they had no intention of discontinuing despite mounting condemnations from across the Middle East.
The Saudi coalition did not directly accuse the Houthis of launching the cruise missile over Medina, but Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree made a point of denying responsibility for the attack in a press conference.
“What the Saudi enemy claims regarding targeting toward the city of Medina is a great and immense falsehood,” Saree said.
The Saudis did accuse the Houthis by name of attacking an electric power distribution station in Medina earlier this month. The Houthis said that accusation was a “lie.”
The Houthis also denied launching a drone at the holiest city in Islam, Mecca, on September 15 – an attack that was furiously condemned by almost every Muslim nation except Iran.
The Houthis did take responsibility for attacking civilian targets in other Saudi cities, including more missile strikes against civilian airports and oil facilities. Saree said one of those missiles scored a “precise and direct hit” on the airport in Riyadh.
The Yemeni insurgents on Thursday repeated their warning that Saudi airspace is now unsafe for all airlines, and Saree promised more attacks against oil facilities and airports “deep inside Saudi Arabia.”
The Houthis also attacked territory controlled by the internationally recognized government of Yemen, including the presidential palace in Aden, the port city in southern Yemen that has been used as a headquarters by the government for much of the time since the Houthis captured the capital of Sanaa in 2014.
The Yemeni government acknowledged the Houthi attack and said several security personnel at the palace were killed and wounded. “Aden will remain the hub for the operations of state institutions as they carry out their duties towards citizens,” the statement added.
“We reassure the sons of our Yemeni people that the Prime Minister and all members of the government are safe and well,” said Yemen’s Information Minister Moammar al-Eryani.
Eryani said the Houthis launched a “terrorist” attack on the palace with at least five ballistic missiles, while the Houthis claimed they were targeting a military base and ammunitions depot used by Saudi Arabian troops in the palace compound.
The Saudi coalition released more footage on Thursday of some 20 drone and missile attacks launched by the Houthis at King Khalid Airport in Riyadh between October 1 and 11:
The French government on Wednesday “strictly advised” its citizens against using King Khalid International Airport, or two other major Saudi airports in Jeddah and Dammam that have come under Houthi attack – or indeed to travel to Riyadh, Jeddah, or Dammam at all, “unless necessary.”
Lebanese media on Wednesday night quoted Saree claiming the Houthis were able to destroy a Saudi Typhoon fighter with a surface-to-air missile as it was preparing to bomb Houthi positions in Yemen. According to Saree, the Saudis conducted 42 air and missile strikes in Yemen on Wednesday, targeting civilian sites in Sanaa and several other cities.