President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu strongly condemned today the drone attack attempted by the Houthis targeting Makkah, Saudi Arabia.

In a post on X, the President stated that any act that threatens the peace and sanctity of Islam's holiest land is completely unacceptable and that it is an affront to the entire Islamic Ummah.

"The Maldives will always stand in full solidarity with Saudi Arabia," the President stated.

In the President's post, he praised the swift and effective measures taken by the Royal Saudi Air Defense Forces in protecting Makkah, its residents, and the Umrah pilgrims and Hajjis visiting for worship.

Calling for an immediate halt to such attacks, the President urged all related parties to prevent the situation from escalating further and to choose the path of peace and dialogue.

The Saudi-led coalition stated that a drone sent by Yemen's Houthi rebels targeting the Makkah region was shot down before entering the area, and that if the danger of the attacks starts to reach the Two Holy Sanctuaries and worshippers, it would be crossing a red line.

However, the Houthis denied carrying out that attack. The Houthis stated that they target Saudi oil facilities and that those are very far from Makkah and Madinah.

That attack came a day after the Saudi coalition stated that Houthi missile and drone attacks on Khamis Mushait, Abha, and Taif injured 13 civilians and damaged seven houses and two vehicles.

Following a hiatus of several years, clashes between the internationally recognized government forces of Yemen and the Houthis have increased since early July. Since the Houthis captured Yemen's capital Sana'a and numerous provinces in 2014, the Saudi-led Arab coalition has been supporting the Yemeni government and attacking Houthi targets.