Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Wednesday condemned a “dastardly and heinous attempted drone attack” near the Saudi holy city of Mecca.
“I condemn in the strongest possible terms the dastardly and heinous attempted drone attack against the Holy Site of Makkah Al-Mukarramah,” Sharif said in a statement, according to Pakistan’s Dawn newspaper.
Saudi Arabia said its air defences intercepted and shot down a Houthi drone south of Mecca on Tuesday before it entered the restricted airspace of the holy city. Saudi military coalition spokesman Turki al-Malki said the incident was the second reported attempt by the Houthis to attack Mecca.
The Houthis denied targeting Mecca. Houthi political bureau member Mohammed al-Farah called the Saudi allegation “an outright lie”, according to Reuters.
According to the Indian Express, the incident has drawn condemnation from all over the Muslim world, with the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation also condemning reported Houthi attacks targeting the Mecca and Medina regions.
The episode comes amid renewed fighting between the Houthis and Saudi-backed forces in Yemen and a wider escalation of regional hostilities.
