This handout picture released on Sept. 16, 2026 by Ansarullah Media Centre shows fighters affiliated with Houthi authorities posing in the midst of what the Houthi military said is the wreckage of a Saudi F-15 fighter jet that was shot down in the central province of Marib. (Credit: Ansarullah Media Center/AFP)
Yemen's Houthis reported fresh Saudi airstrikes on Wednesday, as Riyadh accused the group of launching a "cowardly" attack targeting Islam's holy city of Mecca.
The Houthis swiftly rejected as a "lie" Riyadh's early morning statement that it had shot down a drone heading towards Mecca, but the accusation prompted a chorus of outrage from around the Muslim world.
Renewed fighting between the Houthis and Yemen's Riyadh-backed government has dragged in the kingdom, after the Houthis declared a maritime blockade on Saudi ships in the Red Sea.
Last week, the Houthis seized control of the entirety of Yemen's Red Sea coast and the Bab al-Mandab Strait, a vital artery for Saudi oil exports as the wider Middle East war chokes off the Strait of Hormuz shipping route.
Saudi Arabia's foreign ministry condemned the targeting of Mecca as a "cowardly terrorist attack" and reaffirmed the kingdom's right to "defend the security of the two holy mosques, the pilgrims, and the entire Saudi territory".
Houthi politburo member Hazem al-Assad, however, dismissed the accusation as "a worn-out lie that has been used before and no longer fools anyone".
One Mecca resident who spoke to AFP on condition of anonymity said they "saw a few people panicking, running to the window to see what happened" after locals received an alert on their phones warning of an attack.
But, they added, "life is normal in Mecca."
Saudi Arabia has accused the Houthis of launching attacks towards the city in an earlier conflict.
The Saudi-led coalition battling the group vowed retaliation, saying "the security of the Two Holy Mosques and the pilgrims is a red line."
"The coalition will not hesitate to take the necessary and deterrent measures against the Terrorist Houthi Militia."
On Wednesday evening, Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree said "Saudi warplanes launched 40 airstrikes ... targeting the provinces of Taiz, Marib, and Hodeidah over the past 24 hours".
He had previously put the number of Saudi strikes launched over the past week at more than 450, saying that in response, the group had targeted a Saudi air base and a state oil company facility in the Red Sea port city of Yanbu.
The group also claimed on Wednesday to have shot down a Saudi fighter jet.
- Clashes near the border -
Yemeni government forces clashed with Houthi fighters near the Saudi border, with AFP footage showing soldiers in armored vehicles and trucks pushing across desert terrain under the crackle of machine-gun fire.
The Houthis also released footage on Wednesday of the fighting in the northwestern al-Jawf area, as well as a video purporting to show the downing of a fighter jet belonging to Saudi Arabia, the group's longtime foe and the Yemeni government's main backer.
The group has recently made major gains in a lightning offensive that Saudi airstrikes have failed to roll back, leaving the Yemeni government scrambling to respond.
"The First Division Emergency Forces are advancing on the al-Labanat front and, God willing, will reach Houthi positions," Waleed al-Mahajeri, operations commander of the government's Fifth Brigade, told an embedded AFP journalist on Tuesday.
AFP footage showed the soldiers firing heavy machine guns, artillery and RPGs at distant targets, as well as the bodies of Houthi fighters and entrenchments the government forces said the group had abandoned as they fell back.
"Al-Masariya Hill has been liberated, as has al-Labanat camp, and the advance is continuing," said soldier Abu Mithaq.
Two sources from the government's military later told AFP on condition of anonymity that government forces were in control of the lower points of al-Labanat camp, located on a hill, but were facing difficulty seizing control of the rest, as the Houthis held the higher ground.
Taking the camp would be a strategic win for the government forces, as it would clear the path to Al-Hazm, the capital of Al-Jawf governorate, just 50 kilometres away.
With the Houthis targeting Saudi ships in the Red Sea, the kingdom's de facto leader Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi called on Tuesday for free navigation in the waterway, which serves as a gateway to the Suez Canal, a crucial source of revenue for Cairo.
Yemen's civil war roared back to life in July after lying mostly dormant since 2022, with the Houthis making rapid advances that saw them seize the entirety of the country's Red Sea coast and strategic islands in the Bab al-Mandab Strait at the sea's southern tip.
The group has long held large parts of the country's north, including the capital Sanaa.
In their own video, Houthi fighters can be seen racing across the desert in pick-up trucks, at one point firing on an advancing vehicle.
"We are conducting now, God willing, an operation to... cut off the enemy," one of the fighters can be heard saying.
A separate video issued by the group includes night-vision footage appearing to show a projectile striking a fighter jet.
Other scenes show the wreckage of a downed plane, with a charred tailfin bearing the Saudi flag.
The Houthis said on Wednesday that they had shot down a Saudi fighter jet using a locally made missile.
U.S. media reported last week that the crown prince made a personal request to President Donald Trump for U.S. intervention, but was turned down.
A U.S. military task force is working to enhance intelligence-sharing and planning assistance for Saudi forces, a U.S. official told AFP on Tuesday.
The Houthis have insisted there is no threat to navigation in the Bab al-Mandab Strait except for Saudi vessels, but any attacks in the waterway are likely to make it less attractive to shippers.