Saudi Arabian air defenses destroy Houthi drone south of Mecca

Saudi Arabia's air defenses destroyed a Houthi drone south of Mecca before it entered restricted airspace over the holy city, a spokesman for the Saudi-led military coalition in Yemen said Wednesday, as fighting spreads across the Middle East.

The drone, intercepted on Tuesday night, was the second attempt by the Houthis to attack Mecca since the launch of a ballistic missile in July 2017, spokesman Turki al-Malki said in a statement. The incident comes after a week of attacks by Iran-aligned Houthi fighters that have dragged Saudi Arabia deeper into the conflict.

Mecca is home to some of Islam's holiest sites and is the center of the annual hajj pilgrimage, so its security was a "red line," coalition spokesman al-Malki said in the statement.

Houthi officials have denied attacking Mecca.

The attacks on Saudi Arabia have shocked global energy markets, already shaken by the six-month war between the United States and Iran, which has reduced shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz to minimum levels.

In recent days, the Houthis have taken control of parts of Yemen's Red Sea coast overlooking the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, one of the world's most important maritime passages, endangering Saudi oil exports that have been diverted from the Strait of Hormuz.

Saudi Arabia issued security alerts for Mecca on Tuesday, but Mohammed al-Farah, a member of the Houthi political office, denied that the group had attacked the city and called the accusation a "blatant lie," according to statements reported by the Houthi-controlled SABA news agency.

The Houthis have announced several major attacks on Saudi Arabia over the past week, including an attack on an air base on Monday, which they claimed was retaliation for airstrikes on Yemen. The attack on the air base left 13 civilians injured, according to officials from the military coalition led by Saudi Arabia.

Saudi Arabia has blamed a separate pro-Iran movement based in Iraq for an attack on Friday that crippled one of the kingdom's main oil transport routes: the East-West pipeline, which runs through the Arabian Desert.

The 1,200 kilometer East-West pipeline, which connects Saudi oil fields in the Gulf with the Red Sea, has been the kingdom's main export route while shipping through the Strait of Hormuz has been disrupted by almost seven months of war, a conflict that has caused thousands of deaths across the region.

Since the pipeline was shut down following Friday's attack, market traders say a prolonged disruption could reduce up to 4% of global oil supply.

Saudi Arabia has not said when operations could resume.

However, US Energy Secretary Chris Wright told CNBC on Tuesday that crude oil should be flowing through the pipeline again within days.

Saudi Arabia has led a coalition fighting the Houthis since 2015. The conflict had largely calmed down thanks to a ceasefire in recent years, but flared up again this month when the Houthis pushed back forces aligned with the Yemeni government.