Houthi Strikes on Mokha Port Kill Dozens as Regional Tensions Escalate

The Iran-backed Houthi rebels launched multiple waves of missile and drone attacks on the Yemeni port city of Mokha, killing at least 11 people, including three civilians and eight military personnel. The strikes also wounded 32 others, with six civilian casualties resulting from attacks on the port.

According to Yahya Saree, Houthi military spokesman, the group targeted Saudi-backed forces and military equipment in the area using missiles and drones as retaliation for alleged Saudi drone incursions into northwestern Yemen. He also claimed responsibility for an earlier drone attack on a Saudi oil facility operated by Saudi Aramco on the Red Sea coast.

The government reported that several waves of attacks were launched against Mokha and other positions, including sites on islands near the Bab al-Mandab Strait, a key shipping chokepoint at the southern entrance to the Red Sea. The escalation comes after a years-long truce between the Houthis and Yemen's Saudi-backed, internationally recognized government appeared to collapse last month.