Houthis 'fire drone at Mecca' and 'shoot down Saudi fighter jet' as war intensifies amid fears of global oil crisis

Saudi Arabia said it shot down a Houthi drone near the outskirts of Mecca, Islam's holiest city, on Tuesday, as the Houthis claimed to have shot down a Saudi fighter jet amid intensifying conflict across the region. Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree was quick to dismiss Saudi claims that the group had targeted Mecca, after widespread condemnation.'Our operations target its oil facilities and military bases, which are far removed from the sacred sites,' he said. Mecca is regarded as the birthplace of the Prophet Muhammad and is the holiest city in Islam. Muslims who are physically and financially able are required to make the pilgrimage to the city at least once in their lifetime, with millions travelling there each year. Turki al-Maliki, the spokesman for the Saudi-led Coalition Forces, condemned the attempted attack on X, writing: 'This hostile attempt will also remain a black mark in the record of violations by the extremist terrorist Houthi militia, as a deliberate act intended to provoke the feelings of millions of Muslims.'He vowed to take any 'necessary and deterrent measures' against the group.Meanwhile, the Houthis on Wednesday said they shot down a Saudi fighter jet, claiming a locally made munition was used to target the warplane. Mecca is regarded as the birthplace of the Prophet Muhammad and is the holiest city in Islam 'The Yemeni Armed Forces, with Allah's aid and grace, succeeded in shooting down a Saudi F15 fighter jet while it was carrying out hostile operations in support of its military mobilisations in the airspace of Marib province,' Saree said on social media, while accusing Saudi Arabia of launching 450 strikes.He said the jet had been targeted 'using a locally made air-to-air missile'.The developments come as fears are growing of a new global oil supply crisis after Houthi rebels seized the strategic islands of Greater and Lesser Hanish in the southern Red Sea, following an attack on a Saudi pipeline.The Iran war has forced Saudi Arabia to shift its exports away from the Persian Gulf, since Iranian attacks have stifled shipping through the gulf's sole exit, the Strait of Hormuz.The Kingdom has relied on the East-West Pipeline, which runs 1,200km (124 miles) across the breadth of the country, to move its crude production from Gulf ports to the port of Yanbu on the Red Sea. From there it can be put on tankers for export. But authorities were forced to shut down the pipeline after an attack on Thursday that Saudi Arabia blamed on drones from Iranian-backed militias in Iraq.Repairing the damage, including at a major pumping facility, could take three to five weeks, officials have said. The pipeline may work partially during the repairs, one of the officials said, but they could not say how much oil might get through.The pipeline has been moving an average of 2.6 million to four million barrels per day since late August – a quantity that will be lost to the market if the pipeline's flow stops completely, according to an analysis issued Monday by Rystad Energy, a Norway-based research firm. Meanwhile, Yemen's Iranian-backed Houthi rebels continued to expand their threat to Saudi shipping routes out of the Red Sea by capturing the strategic islands of Greater and Lesser Hanish, government and Houthi officials said Monday.The islands lie 160km (99 miles) north of the Bab el-Mandeb Strait. The strait is a choke point that connects the Red Sea to the open ocean and Saudi Arabia's key Asian markets.The Houthis' advance also puts them just 20 miles from the US military base in the tiny Horn of Africa nation of Djibouti, on the other side of the Bab el-Mandeb Strait.For more than a month, the Houthis have been striking Saudi oil infrastructure and shipping in the Red Sea, stepping up pressure on global oil prices and boosting Iran's leverage in its war with the US.Houthi threats have kept the Kingdom on high alert, with air raid warnings sounding across the country daily, while a series of ballistic missile and drone attacks by the group wounded 13 civilians on Monday. The rebels deployed on the Hanish islands after hundreds of government-allied forces withdrew from the archipelago, according to two government officials and a Houthi official.Last week, the rebels seized the port city of Mokha and the island of Mayun, inside the Bab el-Mandeb Strait.Government forces are now attempting to rally and fight back. On Sunday, the military said it launched airstrikes on Houthi positions in Mokha, the coastal town of Dhubab and elsewhere in Taiz province. A combination of satellite images shows the Saudi Arabia East-West pipeline before (top) and after (bottom) attacks Supporters of Yemen's Houthi rebels chant and raise rifles during a rally organized to celebrate the group's capture of Mayun Island on September 11A rebel spokesman said the Houthis fired dozens of missiles and drones at the King Khalid Airbase in the southern Saudi city of Khamis Mushait, targeting hangars, radar installations and ammunition depots. The statement on Monday by Brigadier General Yahya Saree did not specify when the strikes took place but the Houthis often take hours or days to claim responsibility for attacks.Major General Turki al-Maliki, a Saudi military spokesman, said the attacks struck civilian areas in Khamis Mushait and other nearby cities, injuring 13 civilians and damaging several houses and vehicles. He did not say whether the airbase had been hit.The Iran war has gouged Saudi oil production, which was down to six million barrels per day in August from nearly ten million in September the previous year, according to the International Energy Agency.The fighting has also displaced nearly 94,000 people in Yemen who have since fled their homes.'Many of them don't have enough food or water as they had to flee with whatever they could carry. In some areas, whole villages have reportedly emptied,' said Khanzad Shah, acting head of Islamic Relief, a charity that operates in the area.Around 200 schools have been converted to shelters in southwestern Yemen to absorb an influx of families, said Basma Alloush, deputy director of communications at the International Rescue Committee, an aid group.