Saudi-led coalition intercepts missile fired from Yemen

*UPDATES WITH HOUTHI DENIAL

By Zakaria al-Kamaali

RIYADH (AA) – A Saudi-led military coalition on Thursday announced it had intercepted a "ballistic missile" some 65 kilometers from Mecca, which, coalition officials claimed, had been fired by Yemen’s Shia Houthi militia.

The official Saudi Press Agency quoted a coalition commander as saying that the missile was fired from Yemen’s northeastern Saada province, a traditional Houthi stronghold.

The coalition responded by "targeting the area from which the missile was fired," the commander said without elaborating.

Houthi spokesmen, for their part, denied responsibility for the alleged missile attack.

"We have not targeted any civilian establishments or holy sites during this conflict," Houthi spokesman Mohamed Abdulsalam said in a statement broadcast Friday afternoon by the Houthi-linked Al-Maseera satellite television channel.

Mecca, he added, is "dear to the hearts of all Muslims and Yemenis".

Claims that Houthi militiamen had intentionally targeted Mecca, Abdulsalam went on to assert, "are a base attempt to incite Muslim sentiments… and justify the violations and blockades [imposed by the Saudi-led coalition on Houthi-held cities] suffered by Yemen".

It was not the first time for the Saudi-led coalition to accuse the Houthis of targeting Mecca with "ballistic missiles" fired from Yemen.

On Oct. 9, the coalition announced the successful interception of a missile, which, it alleged, had likewise been fired towards Mecca by Houthi militiamen.

Yemen has been wracked by chaos since late 2014, when the Houthis and their allies overran capital Sanaa and other parts of the country, forcing members of Yemen’s Saudi-backed government to temporarily flee to Riyadh.

The conflict escalated in March of last year when Saudi Arabia and its Sunni-Muslim allies launched a massive military campaign aimed at reversing Houthi gains in Yemen and restoring the country’s embattled government.