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Saudi authorities on Friday denied reports that a suspected suicide bomber had been detained near the Grand Mosque in Mecca, saying the incident involved a man arrested for harassing passersby and causing panic.
Saudi security forces said a person was detained in Mecca after allegedly disturbing people nearby and spreading fear.
“Security authorities in the holy capital arrested a person for harassing passersby and spreading fear and panic among them, and he was dealt with immediately,” authorities said in a statement on X.
“The security authorities confirm that there is no truth to the claims being circulated regarding the incident,” the statement added.
Saudi Arabia’s General Directorate of Public Security said security units immediately intervened and that legal proceedings had been launched.
The suspect was referred to the prosecutor’s office, authorities said.
They urged the public to rely on official sources, saying some claims circulating about the incident did not reflect the truth.
The statement provided no further details about the suspect.
Claims circulated earlier on social media that a suspected suicide bomber wearing an explosive vest had approached the Kaaba before being apprehended by security personnel.
The Kaaba, located at the center of the Grand Mosque, is Islam’s holiest site.
Some social media accounts claimed that the person detained around the Masjid al-Haram area was a “suicide bomber” and had attempted an attack.
The Saudi statement did not include any information indicating that explosives were found on the detained person or that he had attempted an attack.
The denial came as the Saudi-led coalition said Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis struck an electricity distribution station in the holy city of Medina, drawing condemnation from the Muslim world.
The alleged attack came as fighting intensified in Yemen, where government forces said they carried out strikes on Houthi targets and AFP journalists heard explosions in the Houthi-held capital Sanaa.
The Saudi-led coalition said a drone struck Medina’s Taibah electricity distribution station, which provides power to the Prophet’s Mosque. The Houthis denied involvement.
Medina, the burial place of the Prophet Mohammed and home to the Prophet’s Mosque, is one of Islam’s holiest cities alongside Mecca.
Coalition spokesman Maj. Gen. Turki al-Maliki said the drone struck the Taibah electricity distribution station at 5:11 a.m. local time on Sept. 29.
“The investigation and evidence gathered by the competent authorities have confirmed the involvement of the Terrorist Houthi Militia in planning and executing this cowardly terrorist act, based on after-action review and the wreckage of the drone used,” Maliki said in a statement.
The coalition said one transformer was taken out of service but that the wider electricity network was not affected.
Maliki said the facility supplied electricity to the Prophet’s Mosque.
“This cowardly terrorist act, targeting a civilian facility providing electricity to the Prophet’s Mosque in Madinah, is a continuation of this extremist militia’s attempts to target the Two Holy Mosques,” he said.
The accusation came as fighting intensified in Yemen.
AFP correspondents heard loud explosions in the Houthi-held capital Sanaa on Thursday evening, while the internationally recognized government’s military said it had carried out strikes on Houthi targets in Sanaa, Saada and Taiz.
A spokesman said the military had conducted a “high-value targeting operation” in Sanaa and struck 11 targets in Saada.
He added that 27 airstrikes had targeted an “integrated military system” belonging to the Houthis in Taiz.
The Houthis, who control Sanaa and much of Yemen’s Red Sea coast, have repeatedly launched drones and missiles at Saudi Arabia since the kingdom intervened in Yemen’s civil war in 2015.
Attacks linked to Islam’s holy cities, however, are rare.
On Thursday, a senior Houthi official again rejected accusations that the movement had targeted Islamic holy sites, according to Houthi media.
Türkiye strongly condemned the alleged attack and voiced support for Saudi Arabia.
“We strongly condemn the Houthis’ attack on civilian infrastructure” in Medina, the Foreign Ministry said.
“These provocative attacks, which threaten Saudi Arabia’s sovereignty and security and target the sacred values of the Islamic world, must cease immediately and unconditionally,” it added.
Türkiye said it reiterated its “strong support for Saudi Arabia” and called for steps to prevent further escalation.
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