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Mokha port hit
Iran-backed Houthi forces attacked the government-held Red Sea port city of Mocha, also known as al-Mokha, using missiles and drones, with the Yemeni military saying the strike killed seven people and wounded 30 others.
“"Four members of the armed forces and three civilians have been killed, and 30 others injured,"”
The Yemeni military statement said, "Four members of the armed forces and three civilians have been killed, and 30 others injured," and it added that air defences intercepted and shot down 11 Houthi drones that participated in the attack.
Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree said the operation targeted Saudi troop concentrations and weapons depots, and Houthi-affiliated Al Masirah TV broadcast footage showing the launch of ballistic missiles and drones.
The attack also hit residential neighbourhoods in Mocha, and Fayed al-Noman, the information ministry’s assistant undersecretary, said the strike severely damaged port buildings and piers as well as commercial goods and food supplies.
The attack came as Yemen’s Presidential Leadership Council chairman Dr. Rashad al-Alimi held talks with US Charge d’Affaires Neil Hop and briefed him on the Mokha attack, describing it as a “systematic war” against Yemen’s vital economic facilities.
Officials trade blame
Yemen’s Presidential Leadership Council chairman Dr. Rashad al-Alimi accused the Iran-backed Houthi group of waging a “systematic war on the resources of the Yemeni people, their lifelines and economic outlets,” and he said the targeting of a vital seaport near Bab al-Mandab was an “extension of Iranian escalation.”
In the same meeting, Alimi said the Houthi militias were “the ones targeting ports, airports and economic facilities today and threatening commercial ships and food and fuel supplies,” as he urged the US and international community to move “from merely containing the Houthi threat to addressing its sources and tools.”
The Yemeni military said its air defences managed to intercept some of the drones during the attack, and it later said missiles landed in several areas, including near a television station.
Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree told Al Masirah TV and posted on Telegram that the strikes were aimed at areas where Saudi troops were concentrated as well as weapons depots, and the Yemeni Armed Forces said residential neighbourhoods were targeted by ballistic missiles and drones.
The AP report framed the Mokha strike as the second attack on the Red Sea coast city in less than 24 hours, deepening fears over threats to strategic shipping routes and a potential return to civil war.
Regional shipping at risk
The Mokha port attack is tied in the sources to wider concerns about maritime chokepoints, because Mokha sits near the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, described as “one of the world’s most important waterways” and a critical international waterway.
“one of the world's most important waterways”
Al-Alimi told US Charge d’Affaires Neil Hop that the Houthis were carrying out a “systematic war” against Yemen’s vital economic facilities, and he said the Houthis targeted Mokha given its location close to the Bab el-Mandeb Strait.
The sources also link the escalation to threats against commercial shipping and energy supplies, with Al-Alimi warning that the Houthis threaten commercial vessels and food and energy supplies even while complaining about a siege.
In parallel, the Reuters report said the attack severely damaged port buildings and piers and commercial goods and food supplies, and it noted that Mocha is a main port under Yemen’s internationally recognized government that has been renovated to handle shipping that avoids the Houthi-held port of Hodeida.
As the fighting continues, the sources describe a broader regional context in which the Houthis’ missile and drone activity threatens to reignite Yemen’s civil war after a 2022 truce stopped major fighting, while the attack adds pressure on the security of Red Sea shipping routes.
