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Ulviyya Poladova

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The Saudi Arabia-led Arab coalition reported the Royal Saudi Air Defense Forces had intercepted a drone attempting to enter the airspace over Mecca.

Brigadier General Turki al-Maliki, spokesman for the Arab coalition, said in a post on social media X that Saudi air defense forces detected a drone launched by the Houthis before it entered the restricted airspace over Mecca.

According to al-Maliki, the drone was intercepted and destroyed south of Mecca.

The Houthis had denied claims that the holy sites in Saudi Arabia, particularly Mecca, were under threat from Yemen.

Al Masirah, a Houthi-affiliated television channel, quoted a military source in Houthi-controlled Sana’a as saying that there was no threat to Mecca from Yemen.

Mecca, home to ⁠shrines sacred to Muslims worldwide, is Islam's holiest city and the ​focal point of the annual hajj pilgrimage, one of the five pillars ​of Islam, which millions of Muslims undertake each year.

Saudi Arabia issued security alerts ​across parts of the country on Tuesday, including in Mecca and other cities, ‌following ⁠a week of attacks by fighters that have drawn the kingdom deeper into the Middle East war.