Saudi Arabia calls Houthis' first attack attempt on Mecca 'shameful'

Major General Turki al-Maliki, spokesman for the military alliance led by Saudi Arabia fighting against the Houthis together with the official government in Yemen, described the attack as a "shameful act". According to Major General Al-Maliki, the incident was the Houthis' first attempt to attack Mecca, the holiest city of the Islamic world, since 2017.

Houthi Political Bureau Member Hizam al-Assad stated that the statement made by Saudi Arabia was not true and said, "The claim that Mecca is a target is a stale lie that has been spread before and cannot deceive anyone anymore."

Pakistan, the nuclear power of the three-member Mecca Alliance consisting of Saudi Arabia, Türkiye and Pakistan, condemned the attack, which was said to have been carried out by the Houthis. Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif stated that he "condemned the vile and disgusting attack as harshly as possible" and said, "The people of Pakistan are saddened and concerned about this disgraceful act."

According to the agreement, the Mecca Alliance countries are obliged to take action against the attacker if one of the partners is attacked and requests help.

On the other hand, Houthi spokesman Yahya Seri announced that they shot down an F-15 type warplane belonging to the Saudi Arabian Air Force.

Condemnation from Ankara

In the statement made by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, it was said: "We strongly condemn the Houthis' drone attack targeting the holy city of Mecca. We confirm our support for the sovereignty, territorial integrity and security of Saudi Arabia; we emphasize our solidarity with Saudi Arabia once again. We reiterate our call to immediately end these attacks, which also threaten regional stability and security, and to avoid any actions aimed at further escalation." Director of Communications Burhanettin Duran said, "I condemn in the strongest terms the vile attack attempt made with a UAV, targeting the sanctity and security of Mecca."