ISTANBUL, Turkiye: At least seven civilians were killed and around 35 others injured today in a Houthi attack on western Yemen’s Mokha Port near the Bab al-Mandab Strait and nearby residential areas, Anadoolu Ajansi reported, citing official media.
The casualties resulted from Houthi shelling of the port and residential neighbourhoods 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 defences also 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 said that they had downed 11 Houthi drones that took part in the attack on Mokha.
Saba earlier reported Houthi drone and missile strikes on residential neighbourhoods in Mokha.
Deputy Information Minister, Fayyad Alnoman, said the attack had caused extensive damage to buildings, the port’s pier, commercial goods and food supplies.
Houthi military spokesman, Yahya Saree, said his group carried out what he called a “large-scale and high-quality military operation” targeting “Saudi military concentrations and weapons depots in the Mokha area”.
Saree said the attack involved ballistic missiles and drones, claiming that the strikes caused extensive damage to military equipment and weapons and killed and wounded dozens.
One of Yemen’s major seaports, Mokha is located near the Bab al-Mandab Strait, a strategic maritime chokepoint linking the Red Sea with the Gulf of Aden. The port 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. – BERNAMA-ANADOLU
