Repeated Houthi missile and drone attacks have forced the suspension of commercial and maritime operations at Yemen’s Mocha port, causing an estimated $16 million in damage, the port’s director said on Saturday.
Abdulmalik al-Sharabi told a news conference in the Red Sea port city that the attacks killed seven people, including four security personnel and three port employees, according to Yemen’s state-run Saba news agency.
He said the port in south-western Taiz province near the Bab al-Mandab Strait had been struck by more than 25 missiles since August 9 in what he described as the first attacks on the facility since a 2022 truce between the Yemeni government and the Houthis.
The attacks caused losses estimated at around $16 million and damaged six wooden vessels and a dredger used in the port’s expansion project, said al-Sharabi.
He added that the suspension of port operations had deprived 1,300 workers of their livelihoods.
The attacks coincided with the implementation of a project to rehabilitate, expand and operate the port at a cost exceeding $130 million, according to al-Sharabi.
The government-aligned National Resistance Forces said on Friday that the Houthis had launched 40 ballistic missiles, 46 drones and explosive-laden boats targeting Mocha, its port and civilian sites in recent days.
The Houthis, however, said they targeted military gatherings, weapons depots and military boats in the Mocha area. The claims could not be independently verified.
Following the start of the attacks, Presidential Leadership Council Chairman Rashad al-Alimi warned that targeting the port threatened shipping traffic and food and fuel supplies, with serious humanitarian and economic consequences.
A truce has largely held in Yemen since April 2022 after years of conflict between government forces and the Houthis, who have controlled the capital, Sanaa, and other areas since September 2014.
Fighting has intensified in recent weeks in several provinces, including Marib, Al-Jawf, Al-Dhalea and Taiz, as Yemen continues to face one of the world’s worst humanitarian and economic crises.
Saudi Arabia leads the Coalition to Restore Legitimacy in Yemen in support of the internationally recognised government, while Iran is accused of backing the Houthis, an allegation Tehran denies. The Houthis announced a maritime blockade on Saudi Arabia in July.
