Saudi shoots down missile fired at Islam’s holiest site
jeddah — The Muslim world and the international community on Friday expressed outrage after Yemen’s Houthi militia launched a ballistic missile towards holy city of Makkah, home to the most sacred sites in Islam.
Coalition forces destroyed the missile 65km from the holy city before it could do any damage, and retaliated against the launch site inside Yemen, the Saudi-led coalition leading efforts to restore its legitimate government said in a statement.
The Saudi military said the missile, fired on Thursday night from Yemen’s north-western Saada province, which borders the kingdom, caused no damage. The Saudi military has a supply of US-made, surface-to-air Patriot missile batteries it previously has fired at Houthi-launched missiles.
What the missile fired on Thursday night targeted, however, quick- ly became a controversy. The Houthi-controlled satellite news channel Al Masirah said the rebels had fired a Volcano-1 variant missile at Jeddah’s King Abdulaziz International Airport, without mentioning Makkah. That airport is 75km northwest of Makkah.
The Houthi-controlled Saba news agency said the missile “directly hit” the airport and caused massive destruction, though there were no delays or diversions affecting the airport on Friday.
The Saudi military, however, stressed the missile was fired “towards” Makkah.
Iran media reported the incident citing wire reports, without any government comment. — AP, Reuters