Mokha: At least seven civilians and military personnel were killed and around 35 others injured Sunday in a Houthi attack on western Yemen's Mokha port near the Bab al-Mandab Strait and nearby residential areas, according to official Yemeni sources.
According to Anadolu Agency, citing a military source in Yemen's Joint Forces, the Yemeni Armed Forces Media Center reported that the attack involved more than 25 ballistic missiles, intensive waves of drones, and an explosive-laden boat, mainly targeting Mokha Port. The assault caused damage to parts of the quay and facilities used to service ships and handle cargo and livestock. Shrapnel also struck residential areas, apartments, and gatherings near the passport and civil registry office, reaching the Golden Star Hotel.
The Houthis attempted to target the solar power station supplying Mokha with electricity but failed as air defenses confronted successive aerial threats. The seven fatalities and 35 injuries resulted from Houthi shelling of the port and residential neighborhoods in the western city of Mokha in Taiz province, a medical source told the government-run Saba news agency. A government source said port employees were among those wounded after the port and workers' housing were targeted.
Yemeni air defenses intercepted Houthi drones over the city, while government forces thwarted an attempt by a Houthi booby-trapped boat to target the port's pier, according to military sources cited by Saba. The pro-government National Resistance Forces also reported downing 11 Houthi drones that took part in the attack on Mokha. Saba earlier reported Houthi drone and missile strikes on residential neighborhoods in Mokha.
Deputy Information Minister Fayyad Alnoman stated that the attack caused extensive damage to buildings, the port's pier, commercial goods, and food supplies. Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree claimed responsibility for what he described as a 'large-scale and high-quality military operation' targeting 'Saudi military concentrations and weapons depots in the Mokha area.' Saree claimed the attack involved ballistic missiles and drones, asserting that the strikes caused extensive damage to military equipment and weapons, resulting in dozens of casualties.
Mokha, one of Yemen's major seaports, is strategically located near the Bab al-Mandab Strait, a crucial maritime chokepoint linking the Red Sea with the Gulf of Aden, and is controlled by Yemeni government forces. Separately, Al Hudaydah Governor Al-Hassan Taher survived an assassination attempt after a Houthi ballistic missile targeted his residence in the government-held Al-Khawkhah district in western Yemen, according to the local Aljoumhouriya TV. There was no immediate Houthi comment on the report.
Fighting has periodically intensified along several Yemeni fronts since last month, leaving dozens of people dead and wounded on both sides. Yemen had been under a relative lull since April 2022 after nearly 12 years of war between government forces, backed by a Saudi-led coalition, and the Iranian-backed Houthis, who seized control of the capital Sanaa and large parts of the country in 2014.