Houthi Attack Madina Power Station, Saudi Coalition Says; Fighting Grows

A Houthi attack Madina power station claim has raised fresh worry in the region. The Saudi-led coalition said on Thursday that the group hit a power distribution station in Madina earlier this week.

The coalition said the strike put one transformer out of service. It added that the wider electricity network kept running as normal.

Madina is one of the holiest cities in Islam. The coalition said the targeted station supplies power to the Prophet’s Mosque, which makes the claim very sensitive for Muslims around the world.

The coalition said it studied the wreckage of the drones used in Tuesday’s attack. Its investigation, it said, proved that the Houthis planned and carried out the strike.

The Houthis rejected the charge. A military source quoted by the Houthi-run Saba news agency called it a “lie.”

The source said Saudi Arabia was using the claim to cover up another failure. He said Riyadh had not been able to prove its earlier charge that the Houthis targeted the holy city of Mecca.

That earlier case dates back about two weeks. Saudi Arabia said it destroyed a Houthi drone south of Mecca before it could enter the restricted airspace above the city.

The coalition called it the second Houthi attempt to target Mecca since 2017. The Houthis say they have never aimed at Mecca or any other Islamic holy site.

The coalition now says the Madina strike is part of a pattern. It claims the group keeps trying to hit the Two Holy Mosques in order to “provoke” Muslims everywhere.

It also promised to keep taking steps to protect the holy sites and the pilgrims who visit them.

Hours after the coalition spoke, the Houthis reported new Saudi strikes inside Yemen. They said the capital Sanaa was hit, along with the provinces of Saada, Taiz and Amran.

Saudi Arabia did not confirm those reports. However, Saudi-backed Yemeni government forces said on X that they carried out more than two dozen airstrikes on Houthi positions in Taiz. They said the targets included missile stores and command centres.

If the Sanaa strike is confirmed, it would be the first on the capital since July. Back then, government forces hit the runway at Sanaa airport to stop an Iranian plane from landing.

The current clashes are the most serious between Saudi Arabia and the Iran-aligned Houthis in years. A UN-brokered truce in 2022 had largely stopped cross-border attacks.

That calm broke down this year. In July, the Houthis announced a naval blockade on Saudi Arabia and began hitting Saudi land and ships.

At the same time, Houthi forces won major ground along Yemen’s Red Sea coast. Saudi Arabia answered with airstrikes and strong backing for government troops trying to push the Houthis back.

For now, the two sides tell very different stories about the Madina incident. No independent proof has been shared in public, so the claims remain unverified.

Many people will watch what happens next. Any new attack near a holy site could push the conflict into a more dangerous stage.