The Saudi coalition intercepts a drone in the holy city of Mecca. The "Youth Movement" denies attacking the holy city.

The Saudi-led coalition supporting the Yemeni government forces said on the 3rd that it had intercepted and destroyed a drone in the Islamic holy city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia. The Yemeni rebel Houthis denied launching an attack on Saudi Arabia on the 3rd and counter-accused Saudi Arabia of air strikes in Yemen that killed 17 people over the past two days.

Coalition spokesman Turki al-Maliki posted on social media: "A drone was intercepted and destroyed in the Mecca area," but he did not disclose the source of the attack. "Youth Movement" military spokesman Yahya Saree denied that the organization had launched any attack on Saudi territory on the 3rd, and counter-accused Saudi Arabia's statement as "a malicious slanderous old lie."

Yemen has been suffering from civil war since the "youth movement" captured the capital Sanaa in 2014. The Saudi-led coalition intervened in the civil war a year later to support the internationally recognized Yemeni government.

The "Youth Movement" also said on the 3rd that Saudi Arabia's air strikes on Yemen in the past two days this week have killed 17 civilians. The organization's Ministry of Health pointed out in a statement that most of the dead were children. "This shows that Saudi Arabia's aircraft targeted residential buildings, residential neighborhoods and markets."