Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen claimed responsibility for new air strikes that killed at least 11 people in the port of Mocha. The attacks targeted civilians and soldiers as a 2022 ceasefire collapsed last month.
A medical source said three civilians and eight members of government forces died in the Mocha strikes. The source added that 32 people were wounded, including ten civilians, while two government military sources confirmed the military death toll.
The Houthis said they used drones and ballistic missiles against troops and equipment of the Saudi enemy in Mocha, a port controlled by Yemen's internationally recognized government. Fayadh al-Noman, deputy minister of information for the Yemeni government, told dpa that the attack damaged buildings and the port wharf. Local residents confirmed hearing explosions to Agence France-Presse, with one resident reporting six consecutive blasts at the port.
Strikes on Saudi Aramco and Red Sea Facilities
The rebels also targeted an oil refinery in Jizan in southwestern Saudi Arabia. Military spokesman Yahya Saree said a precision drone strike hit the Saudi Aramco facility in response to Saudi incursions into northwestern Yemen.
The Saudi Ministry of Energy announced that a fire at the facility was extinguished without causing casualties, though it did not specify the cause of the blaze. One Yemeni military source said additional strikes hit facilities near the strategic Bab al-Mandab Strait at the southern tip of the Red Sea, where Saudi troops were housed, but no Saudi soldiers were reported injured.
Resumption of Regional Conflict
Fighting resumed last month for the first time since a 2022 negotiated ceasefire. The renewed clash marks a new phase in regional tension following war between the United States and Iran.
The Houthis have repeatedly struck Saudi infrastructure since last month, when Jizan was also targeted. At the end of July, the rebels announced a blockade of Saudi ships in the Red Sea, a key shipping route for hydrocarbons since Iran blocked the Strait of Hormuz on the other side of the Arabian Peninsula. The Houthis have repeatedly attacked ships in the area since that announcement.
Government forces suffered heavy losses prior to the Mocha attack. At least eight soldiers were killed in oil-rich Marib province in central Yemen on Friday, one day after 58 government soldiers died in the deadliest strikes since 2022.
The Houthis stated they acted in retaliation for what they described as the recent reinforcement of Saudi-backed Yemeni troops. Saudi Arabia intervened in 2015 to support the government in a war that has killed hundreds of thousands of people and left Yemen, the poorest country on the Arabian Peninsula, in a severe humanitarian crisis.
The conflict restarted in July after air strikes attributed to Riyadh targeted the Houthi-controlled airport in Sanaa. The strikes followed an unpermitted flight by Iran carrying a rebel delegation into Yemeni airspace controlled by Saudi Arabia. Riyadh, a Washington ally, has faced repeated Iranian strikes in recent months and signed a mutual defense agreement with Pakistan and Turkey on Friday to strengthen its security alliances.
