ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq - Yemen’s Houthis on Wednesday morning claimed to have shot down a Saudi fighter jet over the strategic Marib province, while also denying Saudi reports of the rebel group targeting Mecca.

Yahya Saree, the Houthis’ military spokesperson, said that Saudi warplanes had launched more than 450 airstrikes using F-15 and Typhoon fighter jets over the past week, targeting seven provinces in Yemen and resulting in civilian casualties.

“In the face of this brutal aggression against our country and people, the Yemeni Armed Forces, with Allah's help and grace, were able to shoot down a Saudi F-15 fighter jet while it was conducting hostile operations in support of its military buildup in the skies over Marib province, the fighter jet was downed using a locally manufactured surface-to-air missile,” said the spokesperson.

Marib remains the last stronghold in the north for the internationally recognized Yemeni government, and has been frequently bombarded by the Houthis over the years.

Yemen’s main oil pipeline runs through Marib, and the town also hosts the Safer oil refinery and several other companies working in the energy sector.

Saree added that their forces also engaged with two Saudi F-15 and Typhoon fighter formations over Marib “using locally manufactured missiles,” forcing them to retreat.

The Saudi-led military coalition in Yemen said Wednesday that Saudi forces intercepted and destroyed a “hostile drone,” launched by Houthi rebels before it entered the airspace of Mecca.

“This can only be described as a disgraceful act, an attempt to target the birthplace of revelation, the land of the message, and the destination that draws the hearts of millions of Muslims from around the world,” read the statement.

The Houthis spokesperson denied the Saudi claims of targeting Mecca, describing the reports as “fabrications and lies” which “cannot deceive anyone.”

“They [Saudi government] are the ones who defile it with immorality, debauchery, and the importation of prostitutes. 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,” Saree concluded.

The over-commercialization of Mecca, the holiest city in Islam, by the Saudi government had been a major source of controversy for years among Muslims worldwide.

The increasing presence of luxury hotels, high-end retail brands, Western fast-food chains, and other massive entertainment ventures surrounding the holy Kaaba is often seen as an expansion of Western capitalism, and criticized for overshadowing the Islamic significance of the city — quite literally in the case of the Clock Towers, one of the world’s most expensive buildings which casts a shadow over the Masjid al-Haram, the holiest and most important mosque in Islam.

Having enjoyed a tentative peace for years following a UN-backed truce in Yemen's decade-long civil war, tensions between Riyadh and the Iran-backed Houthis flared following an airstrike on Sanaa International Airport that prevented an Iranian plane from landing in mid-July.

On Saturday, the Houthis seized Yemen’s entire Red Sea coastline after they had expelled Saudi-backed forces from several western districts in a major offensive, including areas around the strategically important Bab al-Mandab Strait.