Yemen’s Armed Forces strongly rejected Saudi Arabia’s renewed allegation that a drone was intercepted over the holy city of Mecca, describing the claim as a blatant lie intended to stir up sentiments among Muslims worldwide.
Brigadier General Yahya Saree, spokesman for Yemen’s Armed Forces, said that Yemeni forces had conducted no operations against Saudi Arabia’s territory on Thursday, dismissing the Saudi claim of intercepting a drone in the skies over Mecca as a grave slander and an outright falsehood.
In a statement, the Yemeni Armed Forces said their operations target only Saudi Arabia’s oil facilities and military bases, adding that no one in the world believes the accusations and fabrications promoted by the criminal Al Saud regime.
Saree emphasized that the repeated allegations by Saudi officials against Yemen’s Armed Forces were intended to provoke the feelings of Muslims around the world.
The latest exchange comes amid an intensification of Saudi military operations against Yemen. Yahya Saree has reported that Saudi forces carried out 101 airstrikes and missile attacks on the capital, Sana’a, and eight other governorates within 24 hours, bringing the total number of attacks since the escalation began to 3,480.
Yemeni government spokesman Omar al-Bukhaiti also condemned the attacks, particularly a deadly assault on Al-Hazm Market in Al-Jawf province that reportedly killed 14 civilians and wounded 15 others, including three women. He called for accountability and criticized the international community’s silence.
The continued attacks have raised concerns over civilian casualties and infrastructure damage, further aggravating Yemen’s humanitarian crisis, which has deepened through years of conflict and economic restrictions since March 2015.
