Riyadh said on Thursday that the Houthis targeted electrical infrastructure supplying the Prophet's Mosque in the holy city of Medina. Yemen, Qatar, Turkey, Sudan and the Arab League have condemned this attack while the pro-Iranian Yemeni rebels deny any responsibility.
Published on: 02/10/2026 - 03:30 Modified on: 02/10/2026 - 07:19
This is the second accusation of an attack on a holy site. Saudi Arabia accused, Thursday, October 1, the pro-Iranian Houthis of Yemen of having targeted the city of Medina, sparking a wave of condemnation in the Muslim world.
The Arab League denounced a "dangerous escalation" on the part of the rebels, who have intensified their strikes against Saudi Arabia since their deadly offensive in early September against the forces of the Yemeni government recognized by the international community and supported by Riyadh.
Anti-government fighters, who control the Yemeni capital Sanaa, again denounced "Saudi aggression" Thursday evening against the city, where AFP correspondents heard three powerful explosions and saw large plumes of smoke in the sky.
Yemen's regular army, for its part, announced on Friday that it had carried out "13 precision airstrikes" against the Houthis across the areas they control.
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The military coalition led by Riyadh in support of the Yemeni government said it had intercepted a total of three missiles and four drones in southern Saudi Arabia on Thursday evening and Friday morning. According to her, the Houthis also targeted on Tuesday morning "a civilian infrastructure supplying electricity to the Prophet's Mosque in Medina". Mecca and Medina, in western Arabia, are the two holiest cities in Islam. Medina is home to the tomb of the Prophet Muhammad.
Riyadh had already accused the Houthis in September of having carried out a drone attack against Mecca, which they denied. They again rejected Thursday any responsibility for possible attacks against these holy sites.
The coalition denounces a “cowardly attack”
This did not prevent the military coalition from denouncing a "cowardly attack" which "is part of the attempts of this extremist militia to target the two holy mosques and the deliberate provocation of millions of Muslims by attacking Mecca and Medina", according to a press release.
The Yemeni government denounced "a blatant violation of the sovereignty of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the sanctity of Medina, as well as a deliberate provocation against Muslims around the world."
Qatar, Turkey, Sudan and the Arab League have joined the chorus of condemnations. The Qatari Ministry of Foreign Affairs denounced “a serious attack on the sanctity of the holy places of Islam, a clear provocation of the feelings of Muslims, an unacceptable disregard for civilian lives”.
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For the Arab League, "this attack arouses the anger of Muslims around the world and reflects a dangerous escalation on the part of the Houthi militia."
The Al-Azhar Mosque in Cairo, seat of the highest authority in Sunni Islam, also expressed its "categorical rejection" of this attack "which threatens the security of the City of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) and endangers it."
Sudan deplored a “hateful act”.
Turkey supports its Saudi ally
The Turkish Foreign Ministry reaffirmed its support for its Saudi ally: “These provocative attacks, which threaten the sovereignty and security of Saudi Arabia and target the sacred values of the Islamic world, must stop immediately and unconditionally.”
Turkey, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia are linked by a mutual defense pact, signed in August in Mecca. So far, however, Islamabad and Ankara have refrained from engaging militarily in the conflict.
Also read: How the confrontation between Iran and the United States reignited the war in Yemen
After several years of calm, Yemen plunged back into war in July, opening a new front in the conflict in the Middle East. Hostilities pit the Houthis, who hold Sanaa and the Yemeni coast on the Red Sea, against the internationally recognized government, which has retreated to Aden and exercises authority over a large part of the south and east.
Pro-Iranian fighters carried out a deadly offensive at the beginning of September, seizing in a few days the coastal regions of the strategic Bab el-Mandeb Strait, which controls access to the Red Sea - and, therefore, to the Suez Canal.
With AFP
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