Houthis renew ballistic missile attacks on Yemen’s Mocha port: State media

Mohammed Sameai and Sahin Demir

Yemen’s Houthi group renewed ballistic missile attacks on the strategic Port of Mocha near the Bab al-Mandab Strait in southwestern Yemen, state media reported Wednesday.

State-run Saba TV said in a brief report that the Houthis targeted the port with ballistic missiles, without providing further details.

Waddah al-Dubaish, spokesman for the government-aligned Joint Forces on the West Coast, said two ballistic missiles struck the port’s marine berth.

In a post on US social media company X, al-Dubaish said the strikes occurred at 11.35 am local time (0835 GMT), according to preliminary information.

He said authorities were assessing the extent of the damage and any casualties resulting from the attack.

There was no immediate comment from the Houthis.

The reported attack came a day after government forces said the Houthis had targeted Mocha with 10 ballistic missiles and four drones.

On Tuesday evening, however, the Houthis claimed responsibility for attacks on what they described as military targets in Mocha and Yemen’s central Marib province using ballistic missiles and drones.

The group’s military spokesman, Yahya Saree, said in a statement carried by the Houthi-run Saba News Agency that the operation targeted what it described as military gatherings, weapons depots and command headquarters in Mocha, as well as the Tadawin military camp in Marib.

Since April 2022, Yemen had experienced a relative lull in fighting between government forces and the Houthis, but intermittent clashes resumed in early July, leaving dozens killed and injured.

The Houthis have controlled the capital, Sanaa, and several other provinces since September 2014.