Four civilians killed in Houthi missile strike on Yemen's Mocha port, government says

Yemen's internationally recognised government has said that Houthi forces fired six ballistic missiles at the Red Sea port of Mocha on Friday, killing at least four civilians. Government-aligned armed forces said the attack targeted civilian infrastructure and national assets, with initial reports indicating that several fishing boats caught fire. The port city of Mocha, which lies on Yemen's Red Sea coast, is a vital entry point for humanitarian aid and commercial supplies, making it critical to the country's fragile economy.

The Houthis, who control the capital Sanaa and large parts of northern Yemen, said they had attacked what they described as Saudi-backed military build-ups, weapons, and warships belonging to Saudi-backed forces and "mercenaries" in Mocha. They said the aerial bombardment with ballistic missiles destroyed boats and weapons. The claims could not be independently verified by neutral sources.

In a separate incident, the Houthi-run SABA news agency cited a military source as saying that the group had targeted an Aramco facility in the Saudi city of Najran with a drone. The source said the attack was a response to Saudi military aircraft entering airspace over the northeastern part of Yemen's Saada governorate. The report did not identify the precise target or say whether it had been hit. There was no immediate confirmation from Saudi authorities or the oil giant Aramco.

The reported attacks follow a recent increase in hostilities. On Thursday, the Houthis said they had attacked an Aramco refinery in Saudi Arabia's Jazan with two drones. On July 20, the Houthis announced a naval blockade on Saudi Arabia in the Red Sea, saying it was a response to what they called a Saudi siege of Yemen, an allegation Riyadh denies. The Saudi-led coalition responded with air strikes on what it said were Houthi military facilities in the port city of Hodeidah, which it linked to threats against commercial shipping.

Yemen has been engulfed in conflict since the Houthis seized the capital Sanaa in 2014, prompting a Saudi-led military intervention the following year. A U.N.-brokered truce in 2022 largely brought major fighting to a halt, but efforts to secure a lasting political settlement have stalled. The recent escalation raises fears that the country could slide back into large-scale conflict, further worsening what the United Nations has described as one of the world's worst humanitarian crises.

The escalation comes at a time of heightened regional tensions, with the Houthis having emerged as a key front in a wider confrontation involving the United States, Israel, and Iran. International observers have expressed concern that continued attacks could undermine the fragile stability in Yemen and complicate diplomatic efforts to achieve a permanent ceasefire. However, no clear path to a political resolution appears to be in sight, as negotiations remain dormant.