Bangladesh has strongly condemned the reported drone attack targeting the Holy City of Makkah Al-Mukarramah in Saudi Arabia.

‘Bangladesh reaffirms its deep respect for the sanctity of Makkah Al-Mukarramah and the other Holy Sites in the Kingdom, and expresses solidarity with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and its people in protecting those,’ a foreign ministry statement said on Wednesday.

Bangladesh underscores that the safety and security of the Holy Sites must be fully respected and protected at all times, it added.

BBC reports Saudi Arabia intercepted and destroyed a Houthi drone south of the Islamic holy city on Tuesday evening, according to the spokesman of the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen.

Turki al-Maliki said the targeting of Makkah was a ‘disgraceful act’.

The 57-nation Organisation of Islamic Cooperation said attacks on Makkah and Medina province, where Islam’s second holiest shrine is located, constituted an ‘unacceptable and intolerable transgression’.

But the Houthis, an Iran-backed armed group that controls much of western Yemen, denied targeting Makkah and accused Saudi Arabia of ‘fabrications and lies’.

‘There is no threat whatsoever from Yemen to the holy sites. Our operations target their oil facilities and military bases, and are far removed from the holy places,’ military spokesman Yahya Sarea said.

Sarea added that the Houthis had launched drones and missiles at Saudi Arabia in retaliation for more than 450 Saudi air strikes on their territory over the past week.

He also said they had shot down a Saudi fighter jet over Marib province.

There was no immediate response from the Saudi-led coalition, but Maj Gen Maliki did say that its forces would ‘not hesitate to take the necessary and deterrent measures against the terrorist Houthi militia and its hostile and terrorist behaviour’.