Saudi Arabia has said debris from two ballistic missiles intercepted by its air defences fell in the Mecca region on Wednesday, in the latest exchange of attacks between the kingdom and Yemen's Houthi movement.

Saudi Arabia's civil defence said the missiles were launched towards the region and were intercepted and destroyed, with debris falling in several locations, including Sabuhah village. Saudi state television identified the locations as Sabuhah village, about 35 kilometres north-east of the Grand Mosque in Mecca, and Wadi al-Maghmas, about 21 kilometres east of the mosque.

The civil defence said the incident was a serious escalation. "This hostile targeting of civilian objects constitutes a flagrant violation of international humanitarian law and reflects the dangerous hostile approach pursued by the Houthi militia," it said in a statement reported early on Thursday.

What Saudi Arabia reported

According to the Saudi account, two ballistic missiles were fired towards the Mecca region on Wednesday, 11 November. Air defences intercepted and destroyed both missiles, and fragments came down in several places in the region. The statements reported so far have not given figures for casualties or damage to property, and the debris was reported to have fallen in and around Sabuhah village and Wadi al-Maghmas, outside the built-up area around the Grand Mosque itself.

The Houthis have repeatedly denied Saudi accusations that they target Mecca and Medina, Islam's two holiest cities, saying their military operations are directed at military and strategic targets elsewhere in Saudi Arabia. The Houthi movement has not, in the reporting seen so far, claimed responsibility for this specific launch.

A conflict that has widened again

The Houthis seized Yemen's capital, Sanaa, in 2014, prompting Saudi Arabia to intervene militarily the following year in support of the internationally recognised government. A United Nations-brokered truce in 2022 largely froze the conflict, but hostilities resumed earlier this year, with the Houthis launching missile and drone attacks on Saudi territory and Riyadh carrying out air strikes in Yemen.

The latest escalation has also threatened the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, a key shipping route linking the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden. In recent weeks the Houthis have claimed strikes on Saudi oil infrastructure and airports, while Saudi Arabia and its allies have reported intercepting missiles and drones and striking what they describe as Houthi missile sites.

The Mecca region is of particular sensitivity because of the Grand Mosque, which draws millions of pilgrims each year. Saudi officials have consistently described any attack in the direction of Mecca as a targeting of civilian and religious sites, a characterisation the Houthis reject.

What happens next

Saudi authorities have not yet published a detailed assessment of the debris or said whether any further defensive measures will be taken in the Mecca region. The incident is likely to feature in further Saudi statements and in diplomatic exchanges with countries involved in efforts to de-escalate the Yemen conflict, including Oman and the United Nations envoy for Yemen.

For now, the episode underlines how far the fighting has moved from the Yemeni border. Attacks that once concentrated on Saudi Arabia's southern provinces are now reaching deep into the kingdom, and the question for the coming days is whether either side is prepared to return to the truce that held, broadly, from 2022 until earlier this year.

Sources: Reuters and Anadolu Agency.