A Houthi missile and drone attack on Yemen’s Red Sea port city of Al-Mukha, also known as Mocha, killed seven people and injured 30 others, according to Yemen’s government military. The dead included four military personnel and three civilians.
The attack took place on Sunday as Houthi forces launched a combination of ballistic missiles and drones toward the strategic port city. Yemeni military officials said the strikes hit both military positions and civilian areas, with residential neighbourhoods also affected.
Yemen’s military said its air-defence forces managed to intercept and destroy 11 Houthi drones during the attack. Despite the interceptions, several strikes reached areas around the city, causing casualties and damage.
Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree said the group had targeted Saudi-backed military positions and weapons depots in and around Al-Mukha. Houthi-affiliated media also broadcast footage showing the launch of missiles and drones.
The latest violence comes amid a sharp rise in tensions between the Houthis and forces aligned with Yemen’s internationally recognised government and Saudi Arabia. The escalation has raised concerns that the relative calm that followed the 2022 truce could be under serious threat.
Al-Mukha is strategically important because of its location on Yemen’s Red Sea coast, close to the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, a major shipping route connecting the Red Sea with the Gulf of Aden. Any sustained military escalation in the area could create additional risks for commercial shipping and regional trade.
The attack also follows a series of Houthi strikes in Yemen and neighbouring Saudi Arabia in recent days. Earlier attacks killed dozens of government troops in Marib and Hadramout, while Saudi authorities reported civilian injuries from Houthi shelling near the border.
The renewed fighting is adding another layer of instability to an already tense Middle East, where conflicts and diplomatic disputes are unfolding simultaneously. For civilians in Yemen, the latest attacks raise fears of another prolonged period of violence after years of war and humanitarian suffering.
The Yemeni government has not indicated that the latest attack will immediately lead to a wider military response, but the continuing strikes could further complicate efforts to preserve the fragile truce and prevent the conflict from escalating again.
