Daijiworld Media Network - Sanaa

Sanaa, Sep 18: Yemen's Houthi leader Abdul-Malik al-Houthi has rejected accusations that his group attempted to attack the Islamic holy city of Mecca, describing the allegation as “fabrication and misinformation” amid escalating hostilities with Saudi Arabia.

In a televised address carried by Houthi-run al-Masirah TV on Thursday, al-Houthi said claims that Houthi forces had targeted Mecca were a “lie”. He alleged that the accusation was being used to mobilise wider support for what he described as “military measures imposed on Yemen”.

Al-Houthi also accused Saudi Arabia of failing to make progress towards a political settlement during the period of relative calm before the latest escalation, Xinhua news agency reported.

He said restrictions affecting Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen had instead been tightened, with limitations on airport operations and imports remaining among the key unresolved issues.

Al-Houthi called on supporters across Yemen to hold mass demonstrations on Friday against what he described as Saudi “fabrications and slander”.

His remarks came a day after Saudi Arabia publicly accused the Houthis of launching a drone towards Mecca. The Saudi-led coalition said on Wednesday that the Royal Saudi Air Defense Forces had intercepted and destroyed the drone south of Mecca on Tuesday evening, before it entered the holy city's restricted airspace.

Coalition spokesperson Turki al-Malki described the security of Islam's two holiest sites and pilgrims as a “red line” and said necessary measures would be taken in response.

Al-Malki said the incident was the second alleged Houthi attempt to target Mecca, following what the coalition described as a ballistic missile attack on July 27, 2017.

The exchange comes amid a widening confrontation, with the Houthis reportedly making major gains along Yemen's Red Sea coast and around the strategic Bab al-Mandab Strait since September 3, while stepping up missile and drone attacks on Saudi military and oil facilities.

The Houthis, meanwhile, have said Saudi warplanes intensified airstrikes across Yemen.

Yemen's conflict erupted in late 2014 when the Houthis seized the capital Sanaa and much of northern Yemen. A Saudi-led coalition intervened in March 2015 in support of the internationally recognised Yemeni government.