Saudi air defence forces crushed a Houthi drone south of Makkah during a period when it was approaching Saudi’s capital, uniting the kingdom’s air force, navy and army, Saudi defense officials said. The drone was believed to be en route to the holy city, the officials said, while the Houthis claimed they were not aiming for Makkah. Any move on the sacred precinct could be an escalation and have serious regional ramifications.
To be sure, religion and politics were key factors in the development of the Houthi movement in northern Yemen since the 1990s. Its head, Hussein al-Houthi, attracted an increasingly large clientele by challenging the government. He was killed by Yemeni forces in an operation in Saada in 2004. His death made him a symbol for their cause and his brother Abdul-Malik al-Houthi became their leader.
The Houthis waged six major conflicts with the Yemeni government from 2004 to 2010, referred to as the Saada wars. At this time it was also developing relations with Iran, but it continued to fight the government of the state of Yemen the main target of warfare.
Saudi Arabia got directly engaged in in 2009 when Houthis made their entry across the Saudi border. Saudi forces and their allied forces struck Houthi bases, demonstrating the Houthis’ capacity for trans-border attacks.
In 2014, the war spearheaded by Houthis took a fresh turn when the rebels were able to take Sana’a. By early 2015 P.R.M. Hadi was compelled to flee Yemen and go to Saudi Arabia. The Houthis were at that time able to control large areas in the north and the west of Yemen, and Saudi Arabia perceived the movement to be a major regional security threat.
Saudi Arabia intervened in Yemen in March 2015 against the backdrop of a military campaign in the region by a coalition of Arab countries with the intention of restoring the internationally recognised government in Yemen. The Houthis and forces from the Saudi-led coalition and other region forces went on fighting each other for years.
The Houthis gained increasingly advanced capabilities such as ballistic and cruise missiles and drones over the years. They began to attack commercial and military shipping well outside Saudi territory, making the movement more closely approach the strategic Bab el Mandeb maritime chokepoint.
The latest Makkah incident is a reminder of how far the conflict has gone from its roots in the North of Yemen. Saudi authorities have said the drone was intercepted prior to entering the airspace of Makkah while the Houthis have refuted that it targeted the holy city.