SANAA, Aug. 17 (Xinhua) -- Yemen's Houthi group said Monday it launched a ballistic missile attack on "a Saudi military landing ship" and four escort military boats off Mocha, a Red Sea port city in southwestern Yemen.
In a statement posted on social media platform X, Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Sarea claimed that the "direct and precise" hits set the landing ship ablaze, while some escort boats sinking and others catching fire.
He said the Houthi group was closely tracking Saudi military movements in its ongoing campaign against Saudi Arabia, a key backer of the Yemeni government.
Separately, Sarea said Houthi forces struck a weapons depot used by Saudi forces at the Sahn al-Jin camp in Yemen's northeastern Marib province with several drones, claiming the attack sparked a fire.
The Houthis have sharply stepped up missile and drone attacks in recent weeks against government-held areas across Yemen and targets in neighboring Saudi Arabia.
Mocha, a government-held port city, has emerged as a major flashpoint in the latest escalation. Since Aug. 9, repeated Houthi strikes have killed and wounded dozens, damaged port infrastructure, and halted shipping at the port, which is located near the strategic Bab al-Mandab Strait linking the Red Sea with the Gulf of Aden.
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 the following year in support of the internationally recognized Yemeni government.
A UN-brokered truce that took effect in April 2022 expired six months later without a formal extension, but a fragile de facto ceasefire has largely held until the recent escalation. ■
