Following Friday evening’s attack on Mokha port in Taiz province, the Yemen army said a port security officer was killed, two sailors were missing and eight civilians were injured.
Yemeni Armed Forces spokesman Staff Colonel Majid al-Nuzayli alleged that the port had been hit by six ballistic missiles and that the Houthis were behind the attack.
Civilian port said to have been targeted
Al-Nuzayli said Mokha port was not merely a civilian facility, but also served as an economic and maritime hub for trade and the shipment of essential food products and goods.
According to the army’s initial casualty figures, the security officer who was killed had been working at the port. Two of the eight injured civilians were members of the port security unit, while two sailors were missing.
The Yemen army spokesman said the attack would be met with a response appropriate to its scale and the crimes committed, adding that the incident would not go unanswered. Al-Nuzayli said they would not allow civilian facilities or the interests of Yemenis to be targeted.
Houthis announce military targets
The Houthis said they had targeted military deployments, weapons and military boats belonging to Saudi forces and their allies in the Mokha area with multiple ballistic missiles. The Houthi statement did not provide information about civilian casualties.
An earlier official statement on Friday said that four ballistic missiles had struck the port. Later, six missiles were said to have targeted the city and four civilians were reported killed, while an army statement issued on Saturday said the attack on the port had been carried out with six missiles.
Clashes resume in Yemen
As part of the war that began approximately 12 years ago, the Houthis have controlled many provinces and cities in Yemen, including the capital, Sanaa, since September 21, 2014. A ceasefire has been in place in the country since April 2022, but clashes between the parties have resumed in recent weeks in the provinces of Marib, Al Jawf, Al Dhale and Taiz.
A Saudi-led coalition supports Yemen’s government forces. Iran is accused of supporting the Houthis, who also announced in July that they had imposed a naval blockade on Saudi Arabia.
