SANAA, Aug. 9 (Xinhua) -- At least eight people were killed on Sunday as Yemen's Houthi group launched a wave of missile and drone attacks on the Red Sea port city of Mocha and other government-held areas along the country's western coast, local sources said.
A local medical source said on condition of anonymity that four civilians and four government military personnel were killed and about 32 other people wounded in Houthi strikes on government-held Mocha Port and surrounding areas in southwestern Taiz province.
Abdulmalik al-Sharabi, the port's director, said in a press statement that the Houthis launched dozens of drones at the facility, with about 25 striking economic facilities, employee housing and a customs hangar.
Yemen's Transport Ministry said that ballistic missiles and drones caused "severe damage" to the port's infrastructure, and that it has raised preparedness levels and reinforced emergency measures at ports, airports and land crossings in government-held areas.
According to local residents and a source, more drone strikes targeted areas controlled by government-affiliated National Resistance Forces in and around Mocha on Sunday afternoon, and a Houthi ballistic missile struck the headquarters of pro-government Hodeidah Governor Al-Hassan Taher in the coastal city of Al-Khawkhah.
Earlier in the day, Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Sarea said on social media platform X that the group launched a large-scale attack with ballistic missiles and drones on troop gatherings and weapons depots of Saudi-backed forces in Mocha, causing "widespread destruction" of weapons and military equipment, and killing or wounding dozens of personnel, including Saudis.
He said the attack was in response to what the Houthis described as continued Saudi-backed military mobilization and reinforcements, as well as recent attacks against Houthi-controlled sites along Yemen's western coast and in Taiz province.
Mocha, a government-held city in southwestern Taiz, lies near the Bab al-Mandab Strait, a strategic chokepoint connecting the Red Sea with the Gulf of Aden and a vital passage for international shipping.
The Houthis also claimed earlier on Sunday that they launched a drone attack on a Saudi Aramco refinery in Saudi Arabia's southwestern city of Jazan, while the Saudi Energy Ministry said industrial security firefighting teams of Saudi Aramco had extinguished a fire at one of the facilities of the refinery, with no injuries reported.
The developments came amid escalating tensions between the Houthis and Saudi Arabia. On July 20, the Houthis announced a maritime ban on Saudi-linked shipping in the Red Sea, citing an alleged Saudi blockade of Houthi-held areas.
The group has also claimed missile and drone strikes on government-held areas within Yemen, including the eastern oil-rich provinces of Marib and Hadramout, and on Saudi-linked vessels, energy sites and airports, while the Saudi-led coalition has resumed limited airstrikes on key Houthi military targets in Yemen.
Yemen has been mired in conflict since late 2014, when the Houthis seized much of northern Yemen, including the capital Sanaa, prompting a Saudi-led coalition to intervene in 2015 in support of the internationally recognized government. ■
