Iran-backed Houthi rebels launched a devastating missile and drone attack on the Red Sea port city of Mokha in Yemen on Sunday, killing seven people and wounding 30, in the latest escalation of their campaign near the strategic Bab Al Mandeb strait.
The attack involved at least 25 projectiles, including ballistic missiles, drones, and an explosive-laden boat, Yemen’s Transport Minister Mohsen Al Omari told state news agency Saba. The strikes destroyed economic zones, employee housing, warehouses, fuel stations, storage tanks, and other port infrastructure that had only recently been restored.
Yemen’s military confirmed seven casualties, including both civilians and military personnel. A separate attempt to destroy a solar power plant supplying electricity to Mokha failed, according to a Yemeni military spokesman.
Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree described it as a large-scale operation targeting Saudi-backed troops and weapons depots in the Mokha area. He said the strikes caused widespread destruction of military equipment and killed and wounded dozens, including Saudi forces. The Houthis said the attack was in response to Saudi troop reinforcements and recent operations against rebel-held areas on Yemen’s western coast and in Taiz province.
Earlier the same day, the Houthis carried out a drone strike on Saudi Aramco’s Jazan refinery complex on the kingdom’s Red Sea coast. Saudi Arabia’s Energy Ministry said industrial firefighting teams extinguished the blaze at dawn with no injuries reported. The 400,000-barrel-per-day facility had already been damaged in a Houthi attack on July 27 that struck its gasification complex and tank farm.
The dual strikes represent a sharp escalation in fighting between the Houthis and Yemen’s internationally recognized government, which largely subsided after a 2022 ceasefire. Government forces attacked the Houthis on several fronts the day before Sunday’s Mokha strike, in retaliation for recent rebel attacks that killed at least 45 people in central and eastern Yemen.
The Mokha attack further disrupts shipping through one of the world’s most critical maritime chokepoints. Bab Al Mandeb traffic has already plummeted since the Houthis declared a naval blockade on Saudi Arabia in late July, with vessel transits down 56 percent. The attacks compound disruptions caused by the Iran-US conflict over the nearby Strait of Hormuz.
Sources: The National | Al-Monitor | France 24
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