Yemen’s Houthi movement has denied Saudi allegations that it targeted the Taibah power distribution station in Madinah, while the Saudi-led coalition says drone debris analysis linked the group to the attack.
Yemen’s Houthi movement has rejected Saudi Arabia’s allegation that it carried out an attack on the Taibah power distribution station in Madinah, describing the accusation as baseless and fabricated.
The Saudi-led coalition said the September 29 attack targeted a civilian electricity facility that supplies power to the Prophet’s Mosque. According to coalition spokesman Maj. Gen. Turki Al-Maliki, an operational review and examination of drone wreckage established what the coalition described as Houthi involvement in planning and carrying out the strike. One transformer was taken out of service, although the wider electricity network was not disrupted.
The Houthis, however, have categorically denied responsibility.
A Houthi military source quoted by the group’s Saba news agency described the Saudi allegation as a “lie”, arguing that it was intended to support earlier Saudi accusations that the Houthis had attempted to target Makkah — allegations the group also disputes.
Mahdi al-Mashat, head of the Houthi-controlled Supreme Political Council in Sanaa, separately rejected the Madinah allegation and said his movement claimed to support the protection of Islamic holy sites. He linked the group’s wider military campaign against the United States, Britain and Israel to what it describes as support for Al-Aqsa Mosque.
The Saudi-led coalition maintains that forensic examination of the drone debris supports its accusation against the Houthis and has said it will continue taking measures to protect Makkah, Madinah and pilgrims visiting the holy sites.
The two sides therefore continue to offer directly conflicting accounts of responsibility for the Madinah incident, and independent verification of who carried out the specific attack remains limited.