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A Houthi drone strike damaged power equipment supplying the Prophet's Mosque in Medina on Tuesday, the second attack in two weeks targeting Saudi Arabia's holiest cities and prompting condemnation from Türkiye, the Gulf Cooperation Council and the United Arab Emirates.
The attack knocked out a power transformer in Medina, according to the Saudi-led military coalition in Yemen. An examination of the drone wreckage confirmed the involvement of the Houthi militia in planning and carrying out the attack, Saudi military spokesman Maj Gen Turki Al Malki said, describing it as a "cowardly terrorist act."
The Medina attack followed an earlier incident two weeks prior, when the coalition said it intercepted and destroyed a Houthi drone south of Makkah before it could enter restricted airspace over the city.
Makkah's Grand Mosque and the Prophet's Mosque in Medina are Islam's two holiest sites, and the coalition said the foiled Makkah strike was the first such incident since 2017.
Al Malki accused the Houthis of a "deliberate provocation of millions of Muslims worldwide by targeting Makkah and Medina."
Türkiye's Foreign Ministry issued a statement on Thursday strongly condemning the attack on civilian infrastructure serving the Prophet's Mosque.
The ministry said the strike was a provocation that threatened Saudi Arabia's sovereignty and security and targeted the sacred values of the Islamic world, adding that such attacks must end immediately and unconditionally.
Türkiye reiterated its strong support for Saudi Arabia and emphasized that steps likely to further escalate tensions in the region should be avoided, according to the statement.
Jasem Al Budaiwi, secretary-general of the Gulf Cooperation Council, said the attack "crossed all red lines" and represented a "grave escalation in violating the sanctity of Islamic holy sites." The UAE's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the strike was a flagrant violation of Saudi sovereignty and a threat to the kingdom's security and stability.
The attacks on Saudi territory have come as Yemen experiences its heaviest fighting in years between Houthi forces and the internationally recognized government. On Thursday, government forces battled Houthi fighters on multiple fronts in Taiz governorate, inflicting casualties and equipment losses on the group, the state-run Saba news agency reported, citing a military source.
The clashes were concentrated in the Jabal Habashi and Maqbanah districts and the Al Aqroud front southeast of Taiz, according to government media, and later spread to the Al Kadha and Jabal Han fronts as well as the northern and eastern fronts of Taiz city.
Government forces repelled the Houthi attacks and forced the group's fighters to retreat after hours of heavy conflict, the source said.
The uptick in fighting has also affected civilians. On Sunday, the Houthi-run health ministry said seven people were killed and 40 injured, including children, in a strike on shops at a market in the Mawiya junction in Taiz province.
Yemen's internationally recognized government said its forces had targeted a Houthi military camp and vehicles at the same junction.
Amid the fighting, Saudi Arabia announced new financial support for Yemen's government. Saudi Ambassador Mohammed Al Jabir said Thursday that the kingdom is providing more than 224 million riyals, about $60 million, in budget support.
The assistance is "part of the kingdom's ongoing support for the brotherly Yemeni people and government amidst the current terrorist attacks perpetrated by the Houthi militia against the resources, assets, and interests of the Yemeni people," Al Jabir said.
He added that the funding, provided at the request of the Yemeni government, was intended to "ensure the steady flow of government funds, enhance fiscal policy efficiency, and boost the purchasing power of Yemeni citizens."
The Houthis, who control Yemen's capital Sanaa and much of the country's north, have carried out attacks targeting Saudi interests and shipping in the Red Sea. The attacks have added to pressure on global oil supplies caused by the US-Israeli war on Iran and threaten the Red Sea route, which has served as an alternative for Gulf exports while traffic through the Strait of Hormuz remains largely blocked.
The Houthis seized Sanaa in 2014, prompting a Saudi-led military intervention the following year at the request of Yemen's internationally recognized government. The civil war that followed has killed hundreds of thousands of people, including through hunger and disease.
A truce brokered by the United Nations in 2022 significantly reduced fighting until open hostilities resumed this summer.
According to UN data from March, more than 22 million people in Yemen require humanitarian assistance, 5.2 million are internally displaced, and 18.3 million face acute food insecurity.
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