国际英语新闻:Yemen's Houthi rebels deny firing missiles toward Mecca

SANAA, May 20 (Xinhua) -- Yemen's Houthi rebels on Monday denied Saudi reports that Houthi ballistic missiles were fired toward Mecca, holiest city in Islam, Houthi-controlled Saba news agency reported.

"It was not the first time the Saudi regime accuses us of targeting Mecca with ballistic missile ... The Saudi regime is trying to rally support to its military aggression against our Yemeni people," the Houthi military spokesman Yahya Sarea was quoted as saying in a statement.

Earlier in the day, the Saudi-led coalition said the Saudi air defense forces intercepted and destroyed "ballistic missiles" above the western cities of Jeddah and Taif, the Saudi-owned Al Arabiya television reported.

Houthis have been targeting Saudi border cities since the beginning of the war in Yemen.

On Sunday, the Iran-allied Houthi rebels vowed to strike 300 vital military targets inside Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

Last week, the Houthi rebels launched armed drone attacks against two Saudi oil pump stations, causing limited fire and damage, according to the Al Arabiya television.

The Saudi-led coalition has been intervening in the civil war in Yemen since 2015 to fight the Houthi rebels who seized Yemen's northern provinces, including the capital Sanaa.