At least seven people have lost their lives and another 30 have been injured after an airstrike launched this morning by the Houthi insurgency of Yemen against the port of the city of Mocha. This is one of the most intense and deadly bombings since the resurgence of violence recorded this week in the country, which has now reached a locality of enormous relevance due to its proximity to the strategic Bab el Mandeb strait.
The Yemeni Ministry of Health has confirmed this provisional balance of victims, while the National Resistance of Yemen, a militia aligned with the Government based in the governorate of Taiz, to which the port belongs, has detailed that among the deceased are four military personnel and three civilians.
The attack included the launch of at least twenty drones against the port, under the control of the Aden Government, of which several would have been shot down by the anti-air defenses deployed in the area.
The Houthis have solely claimed responsibility for the offensive and have argued that the port served as a base for military personnel and arsenals with weapons supplied by Saudi Arabia, the main ally of the Yemeni Executive in this prolonged conflict. They have also presented the operation as a response to previous attacks by the Yemeni Army against the port city of Hodeida, under insurgent control.
The actions of the Houthis in recent hours have not been limited to Mocha. Another drone attack has hit a refinery of the Saudi oil giant Aramco in Jizan, a port in the southwest of Saudi Arabia near the border with Yemen, where a fire has been declared.
"Yemeni forces, by the grace of God, have managed to attack the Aramco refinery in Jizan with a drone, and the impact has been precise. This attack occurs in response to the incursion of the Saudi enemy with its drones in the airspace of the provinces of Saada and Haya," indicated in a message published on social networks their military spokesman, Yahya Sari.
Regarding the bombing of Mocha, sources cited by Saba TV maintain that the drones have actually hit "civilian facilities and neighboring residential areas." The port management has warned that, pending more detailed assessments, the Houthi attack would have caused "significant material damage" in the area.
The Yemeni Ministry of Health has also reported that the projectiles have hit the Saudi hospital in Mocha, "one of the most important health centers on the western coast" and that this attack represents "a direct threat to the lives of patients and healthcare personnel, endangering the continuity of vital medical, ambulance, and treatment services."
These bombings are part of the escalation of hostilities that resumed this week and continued on Saturday, when the Yemeni government reported a new Houthi offensive against the city of Marib, in the west of the country. This city, the capital of the governorate of the same name, is the closest governmental stronghold to Sana'a, the capital, under the control of the rebel movement for more than a decade, a firm ally of Iran and a key piece in the regional geopolitical chessboard.
In response, the Yemeni Army announced a military operation aimed at positions, personnel, and capabilities of the Houthi rebels at various points along the front lines, with particular emphasis on the city of Hodeida, controlled by the insurgency.
A serious escalation in a strategic enclave
The head of the Aden government, Rashad al Alimi, has warned about the extreme seriousness of the Houthi attack on the port. Mocha is probably the largest port infrastructure that remains under governmental control and is located in the middle of the Bab el Mandeb strait, a major commercial corridor.
Al Alimi has directly pointed to Iran, which he accuses of having given the order to the Houthis to attack this "vital" port. "What happened is an extension of the Iranian escalation strategy, which targets economic facilities, maritime routes, and the interests of the countries in the region," stated the president of the Leadership Council.
In the same vein, the Yemeni Minister of Information, Moamar al Eryani, has expressed himself. In his opinion, the bombing "represents an escalation of extreme seriousness and confirms that the threat of the Houthi militia is no longer limited to inside Yemen, but has become a direct danger to regional and international security and stability, as well as to the freedom of navigation and trade in the Red Sea."
Iran already maintains effective control over the Strait of Hormuz, a card it uses recurrently in its negotiations with the United States to try to end the war. If its Houthi allies manage to block the Strait of Bab el Mandeb, the gateway to the Red Sea, oil giants like Saudi Arabia could see their exit to the Gulf of Aden completely compromised.