RIYADH – A fresh escalation emerged around Islam’s holiest cities after Saudi-led Coalition to Restore Legitimacy in Yemen accused Houthi militia of carrying out a drone attack on a power distribution facility in Madinah.
The coalition said the Taibah power distribution station was targeted at 5:11 a.m. on September 29, 2026, in an attack that damaged critical equipment but did not disrupt the wider electricity network.
Coalition spox Major General Turki Al-Maliki said one transformer was forced out of service following the attack. However, he confirmed that the overall power grid remained operational. According to the coalition, an investigation by the relevant authorities, including an after-action assessment and examination of the drone wreckage, established the involvement of the Houthi militia in planning and carrying out the attack.
The incident attracted attention because the targeted facility is a civilian power installation providing electricity services to the Prophet’s Mosque in Madinah. The coalition called this attack another alleged attempt by the Houthis to threaten the Two Holy Mosques in Makkah and Madinah, accusing the militia of deliberately provoking millions of Muslims around the world.
Saudi-led coalition forces said they would continue taking measures to deter Houthi attacks and safeguard the Two Holy Mosques, as well as pilgrims and visitors in Makkah and Madinah.
The latest development comes shortly after another reported drone incident near Makkah in mid-September. Saudi authorities said their forces intercepted and destroyed a Houthi drone south of the Islamic holy city. Major General Al-Maliki described the reported targeting of Makkah as a disgraceful act, highlighting the city’s status as home to Islam’s most sacred shrine and the focal point of the annual Hajj pilgrimage.
Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, representing 57 member states, also condemned attacks involving Makkah and the Madinah region, warning that any targeting of areas surrounding Islam’s two holiest cities constituted an unacceptable and intolerable transgression.
Houthis have rejected Saudi allegations that their military operations were aimed at Islamic holy sites. Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Sarea accused Saudi Arabia of spreading what he called fabrications and lies, insisting that Yemen posed no threat to the holy places.
Sarea said Houthi operations were directed instead at Saudi oil facilities and military bases, which he claimed were located far from the religious sites.
He also claimed that Houthi forces had launched drones and missiles toward Saudi Arabia in response to what he described as more than 450 Saudi airstrikes on Yemen during the previous week. Sarea further claimed that a Saudi fighter jet had been shot down over Marib province.
There was no immediate response from the Saudi-led coalition to that particular claim.
The latest confrontation adds to mounting regional tensions, with Saudi authorities maintaining that they will take necessary deterrent measures against what they describe as continued Houthi hostile and terrorist activity.
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