Cairo, Sept 15. (dpa/GNA) – Emergency alerts were activated in the holy Muslim city of Mecca on Tuesday, amid a series of attacks on Saudi Arabia, with Saudi civil defence urging residents to remain calm and follow instructions from the authorities.
An alert was also triggered in the Red Sea port city of Jeddah, the country’s most important commercial centre, after the capital Riyadh. Both warnings were lifted shortly afterwards.
It is the first time an alert has been triggered in the Muslim pilgrimage site of Mecca since the latest escalation with the Houthi militia. The city had not been targeted in previous years.
The Saudi-led military coalition in Yemen said, it would respond “decisively” to attacks.
The Houthi militia in Yemen has been stepping up strikes on targets in neighbouring Saudi Arabia as fighting has intensified in the Yemen war. Saudi Arabia has also been coming under attack from the north, from neighbouring Iraq.
Shia militias backed by Iran are suspected of being behind these attacks.
Saudi Arabia’s strategically important East-West pipeline, which pumps crude oil to the Red Sea, was also targeted recently. It had previously been targeted by attacks from Iraq in July.
GNA