Claim: Videos show Yemeni Houthi drones aimed at the holy site of Makkah that are then intercepted by the Saudi Air Defence.
Fact: This video dates back to September 2025 and shows an attack on Madinah.
On 16 September 2026, X user Ather Salam and other social media users posted videos claiming to show Houthi drones invading Makkah’s airspace in September 2026.
The video was posted with an Urdu caption:
بڑی خبر! حرمین شریفین پر حملہ کرنے کی ناپاک کوشش ناکام! سعودی ایئر ڈیفنس نے مکہ مکرمہ کی طرف بڑھتے ہوئے حوثی ڈرون کو فضا میں ہی تباہ کر دیا۔ کوئی مسلمان کعبے کی طرف میلی آنکھ سے نہیں دیکھ سکتا! یاد رکھو، مکہ اور مدینہ پاکستان کی ریڈ لائن ہیں، حد میں رہو ورنہ تباہی تمہارا مقدر ہوگی!
[Translation:”Big News! The impure attempt to attack the Haramain Sharifain has failed! Saudi Air Defense destroyed a Houthi drone heading towards Mecca Mukarramah in mid-air. No Muslim can even glance at the Kaaba with an impure eye! Remember, Mecca and Medina are Pakistan’s red lines—stay within bounds, or destruction will be your fate! 🇵🇰🇸🇦”]
Screenshot of Viral X post
Houthi-Saudi clashes
On 8 September 2026, Saudi Arabia’s foreign ministry released a statement condemning recent attacks by Yemen’s Houthi group on its “civilian and economic assets in Abha, Khamis Mushait, Jazan, and Najran.” According to the ministry, the attacks injured 73 civilians, including women and children.
Reuters published a pre-recorded video message from Houthi military spokesperson Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree. According to the transcription published with the video, the Houthis claimed responsibility for the attack and called it a retaliation for the “unjust and brutal aggression against their people, targeting the provinces of Marib, Al Bayda, Hodeidah, Taiz and Al Jawf with dozens of airstrikes and committing major crimes.”
In his message, Saree specified that the Houthis carried out a large-scale military operation “targeting Aramco facilities in Abha and Najran, the Economic City, Aramco facilities in Jizan, and the Khamis Mushait Air Base.”
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif also condemned the “cowardly attack” by the Houthis and expressed Pakistan’s “unwavering” solidarity with King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and “the brotherly people of Saudi Arabia”.
On September 14, Saree claimed responsibility for another large-scale drone attack on Saudi Arabia’s King Khalid Airbase. On the same day, Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman held urgent discussions with the US Central Command chief Adm. Brad Cooper, after he arrived in Jeddah with his delegation to discuss “the latest developments in the region.”
On September 15 2026, Saudi Arabia forces shot down a Houthi drone headed toward Makkah, triggering emergency air defense alarms across the region. Falling debris from the intercepted drone killed one person and left others injured.
Fact or Fiction?
To find the original date of the video, we reverse image searched the keyframe of the video at 0:08 seconds, where the drone is visibly clear near the minaret of the mosque. This search led us to several videos on social media posted in September 2025.
A Yemeni news outlet, Belqees TV, posted a video on Youtube with an Arabic caption that translates to: “Missile intercepted over Medina.” This post is dated to12 September 2025, predating the claim of an attack on Makkah in September 2026.
Screenshot taken from the Belqees TV Youtube video
Furthermore, the location of the drone interception seen in the video is clearly Madinah, and not the south of Makkah, where the recent attack took place on 15 September 2026,as confirmed by news outlets.
Virality
This outdated video of the drone attack in Saudi Arabia was found on Facebook, Instagram and X.
The video on X received a total of 18.6K Views in one post.
On Facebook the reel saw7.1K views and 121 likes.
Conclusion: The footage of a Houthi drone attack was taken in Madinah in September 2025, and is unrelated to the attack on Makkah in September 2026.
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