Houthis deny launching drones towards Medina or conducting operations against Saudi Arabia

Medina, Saudi Arabia. Yemen’s Houthis denied sending drones towards Medina on Wednesday or carrying out military operations against Saudi Arabia. Their military spokesperson, Yahya Saree, issued the denial after the Saudi-led coalition reported intercepting drones above Medina and the Eastern region.

Airspace warning and attacks

The Iran-aligned Houthis warned airlines this month not to fly through Saudi airspace as the group stepped up attacks against the kingdom, the world’s largest oil exporter. They said the warning excluded airspace above Mecca and Medina, Islam’s holy cities.

Houthi attacks against the international airport in Riyadh and the state-owned oil company Saudi Aramco have disrupted air travel and oil exports.

Strikes inside Yemen

The Houthis also claimed responsibility on Wednesday for striking a military camp close to the airport in Aden, the southern city that serves as the Yemeni government’s base.

Reuters was told by a military source from the government and a local official that the group had also struck Riyan airport in Mukalla, a coastal city in southeastern Yemen.

On Monday, a Houthi missile strike killed 73 people at a training camp for government security forces in Yemen’s Shabwa province.

Renewed conflict

Fighting that resumed in recent weeks brought an end to a UN-mediated truce reached in 2022. That agreement had largely stopped cross-border strikes between the Houthis, who hold Sanaa, and the Saudi-led coalition supporting Yemen’s internationally recognised government.

The escalation has created an additional front in the war being fought by the United States and Israel against Iran.

Yemen has faced civil war since 2014, when the Houthis expelled the government from the northern capital, prompting military intervention led by Saudi Arabia. The country is experiencing a humanitarian crisis ranked among the most severe worldwide.