Mocha port suspends operations following Houthi attack
Yemen’s Mocha port has suspended commercial and maritime operations after more than 25 missiles were fired at the Red Sea port in recent Houthi attacks, its director said on August 15.
As reported by Reuters, the attacks killed seven people and caused an estimated $16 million in losses, according to the port director. Yemen’s government said the Houthis fired six ballistic missiles at Mocha on Aug. 14, killing at least four civilians and targeting civilian, economic and maritime facilities.
Mocha, located near the Bab el-Mandab Strait, is a strategic Red Sea port along a key international shipping route connecting the Red Sea with the Gulf of Aden.
The port is controlled by forces aligned with Yemen’s internationally recognised government and has a smaller cargo capacity than the country’s main ports of Aden and Hodeidah.
The Houthis said they targeted a military build-up involving weapons and warships belonging to Saudi-backed forces in Mocha.
The escalation has raised concerns about a renewed large-scale conflict in Yemen amid heightened regional tensions linked to the U.S. war on Iran.
Major fighting in Yemen has largely subsided since a U.N.-brokered truce in 2022, although efforts to reach a lasting political settlement have stalled.