Saudi Arabia says Yemen's Houthis fire missile toward Mecca

Houthis rebels in Yemen fired a ballistic missile toward the holy Muslim city of Mecca overnight, Saudi Arabia said Friday, the insurgents' deepest strike yet into the kingdom amid the country's stalemate civil war.

Houthis' media in Yemen said the missile targeted an international airport in Jiddah, though Saudi Arabia said it was "intercepted and destroyed" 65 kilometers (40 miles) from Mecca, which is home to the cube-shaped Kaaba that the world's Muslims pray toward five times a day.

The missile launch drew the immediate anger of Saudi citizens, as the protection of Mecca is a key pillar of the Saudi royal family's prestige and the country's national identity.

The Saudi military said the missile, fired Thursday night from Yemen's northwestern Saada province bordering the kingdom, caused no damage. The Saudi military has a supply of U.S.-made, surface-to-air Patriot missile batteries it previously has fired at Houthi-launched missiles. The military said in a statement carried by the state-run Saudi Press Agency that it immediately targeted the area where the missile was launched in airstrikes.

The Houthis and their allies, including forces loyal to former Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh, have a stockpile of Soviet-era Scud missiles and locally designed variants. The Houthi-controlled satellite news channel Al-Masirah published a bulletin saying its forces had fired a Volcano-1 variant missile at Jiddah's King Abdulaziz International Airport, without mentioning Mecca. That airport is 75 kilometers (45 miles) northwest of Mecca.

The Houthi-controlled SABA news agency said the missile "directly hit" the airport and caused massive destruction. There were no immediate delays or diversions affecting the airport Friday. A Houthi ballistic missile fired earlier this month targeted Taif, home to Saudi Arabia's King Fahd Air Base, which also is near Mecca.

Tension has escalated in the war-torn country after the Saudi-led campaign in Yemen has come under heavy criticism since an airstrike this month on a funeral gathering in the Yemeni capital Sanaa that killed 140 people, according to a United Nations' estimate, 82 according to the Houthis. In another major development, the US Navy for the first time targeted Houthis directly. On Oct. 13, it hit radar sites which, the US said, were involved in missile launches against a US warship and other vessels.

Saudi Arabia is leading a coalition of Muslim countries, backed by the United States, Britain and France, in a war in neighboring Yemen. The campaign, aimed at restoring a government ousted by an Iran-allied militia, is part of a more assertive effort by Riyadh since last year to counter Iran's influence. A Saudi-led coalition, including naval forces, operates a blockade of Yemen as part of efforts to prevent weapons reaching Shiite Houthi rebels and their allies who overran much of Saudi Arabia's neighbor.

The war in Yemen began in 2014 when Shiite rebels, known as Iran-backed Houthis based in the north, seized the capital Sanaa. In March 2015, Saudi Arabia and its Gulf allies launched a campaign of airstrikes against the rebels. The Saudi-led coalition and the U.S. are backing the internationally recognized government of President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi.