Thousands rally in Sanaa against Saudi blockade, vow to protect holy sites

Thousands of Yemenis filled the streets of Sanaa on Friday in a show of support for the protection of holy mosques and in protest against Saudi Arabia's blockade of the country.

Many in the crowd carried rifles and daggers, and demonstrators chanted slogans directed at the United States, Israel and Saudi Arabia. Banners bearing images of the Kaaba, Islam's holiest site, carried the message that protesters would sacrifice their lives for it.

One demonstrator, Radwan al-Nahamy, said Yemenis would not be deterred, describing the protection of holy sites as a priority to be defended with "our souls and blood." Another, Mohamed Mahmoud al-Hamadani, said the rally was held in response to religious duty and to the group's leader, and rejected what he called Saudi claims that the Houthis had targeted Mecca. He asserted that Yemenis were the first to provide coverings for the Kaaba and the first to defend it.

The gathering followed a pre-recorded speech on Thursday by Abdul Malik al-Houthi, the leader of the Iran-backed group, in which he dismissed as "utterly heinous lies" suggestions that the rebels had targeted Mecca.

The rally comes a week after Houthi forces pushed down Yemen's Red Sea coast, extending their reach to a key maritime chokepoint and raising the prospect of disruption to Saudi oil exports. The advance — described as the group's largest land grab in years — has reignited Yemen's 12-year civil war and pushed up global fuel prices.

The rebels have also fired at Saudi oil facilities and tankers, while an attack on Saudi Arabia's east-west pipeline, blamed on Iran-backed militias in Iraq, added to the pressure on the kingdom and unsettled world markets.

The renewed fighting has forced some 125,000 Yemenis to flee their homes. The conflict has killed more than 150,000 people and at times brought the country to the brink of famine.

Rebel forces now appear to be turning their attention toward Yemen's oil-rich east, with the Saudi-backed government and a collection of factions — some of which fought each other as recently as January — forming the main opposition. The United States, Saudi Arabia's most important ally, has so far appeared to stay out of the latest escalation.