Houthis deny firing rocket near Islamic holy city Medina after Saudi interception

By Vaughn Cockayne - The Washington Times - Thursday, October 15, 2026

The Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen on Thursday rejected accusations that they fired a missile toward the Saudi Arabian city of Medina, a holy site for Muslims around the world, just hours after the kingdom said its forces intercepted an attack there.

“The Yemeni armed forces confirm that they did not carry out any targeting operation toward Saudi territory today,” Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree, a Houthi spokesman, said in a statement.

The Saudi-led coalition fighting the Houthis announced earlier in the day that its forces had intercepted a cruise missile over the Medina province, located on the country’s western coast.

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Medina is the second holiest city in Islam after Mecca and is where the Prophet Muhammad escaped following persecution to establish the world’s first independent Muslim community.

Since fighting between the Houthis and Saudi Arabia restarted earlier this year, the kingdom has repeatedly accused the Iran-backed rebels of targeting Islamic holy sites.

In September, Saudi coalition spokesman Col. Turki al-Maliki said the kingdom had shot down a Houthi-launched drone headed toward Mecca before it entered the city’s restricted airspace.

Gen. Saree said the rebels were targeting only energy and military sites far outside the city limits.

Late that same month, the coalition said a Houthi drone hit an electricity distribution station in Medina that supplied power to local mosques. Authorities said the drone itself did very little damage and the grid was unaffected.

The Houthis again rejected the accusation, asserting it was a lie intended to portray the group as willing to attack sacred sites.

The Houthis subscribe to the Zaydi branch of Shia Islam while Sunni Islam is recognized as the official state religion of Saudi Arabia.

Earlier in October, Gen. Saree said the Houthis would escalate their attacks against civilian infrastructure in Saudi Arabia, especially airports and oil facilities. But he added that similar facilities in Medina and Mecca would not be targeted.