RIYADH: Yemen’s army said it carried out attacks on high-value sites in the capital Sanaa hours after reports that the Houthi militia struck an electricity distribution station in Madinah, Saudi Arabia.
The Iran-back Houthis used a drone to target the facility that provides power to the Prophet’s Mosque, prompting condemnation from Islamic and Arab nations.
Coalition spokesman Major General Turki al-Maliki said the Taibah electricity distribution station was hit early on Sept. 29.
An investigation found that the Houthi militia planned and executed the “cowardly terrorist act,” Maliki said. Authorities carried out an operational review and studied the drone debris to prove the source of the attack.
The Yemeni army said late on Thursday that it had targeted a number of site in Sanaa, Saada and Taiz.
A spokesman said the military had conducted a “high-value targeting operation” in Sanaa and struck 11 targets in Saada.
He added that 27 air strikes had targeted an “integrated military system” belonging to the Houthis in Taiz.
Last month, a drone launched by the Houthis was shot down outside Makkah, the holiest city in Islam, the Coalition said, labelling the act as a “red line”.
In 2017, Saudi air defense forces intercepted a ballistic missile launched toward Makkah by Yemen’s Houthi militia.
The Houthis, who control Sanaa and much of Yemen’s Red Sea coast, have repeatedly launched drones and missiles at Saudi Arabia since the Kingdom intervened in Yemen’s civil war in 2015 to support the internationally recognized government.
• With AFP
