Houthis Claim Missile and Drone Attack on Saudi-Backed Forces

Yemen’s Houthi group claimed on Sunday to have launched a large-scale attack using ballistic missiles and drones against Saudi-backed forces. The attack targeted forces in the strategic port city of Mocha, located on the Red Sea in the western province of Taiz. Houthi military spokesman Yahya Sarea said in a statement on social media platform X that the operation targeted troop concentrations and weapons depots in the Mocha area using ‘a large number of ballistic missiles and drones’. Shortly before the announcement, an anonymous local government official told Xinhua that the Houthi group had fired several missiles at the port, targeting what he described as ‘civilian areas’ within the facility. Residents in Mocha told Xinhua that several explosions were heard from the direction of the port, accompanied by smoke rising over the area following the attack. Mocha, situated in western Yemen’s Taiz Province along the Red Sea coast near the Bab al-Mandab Strait, is a strategically vital waterway connecting the Red Sea with the Gulf of Aden and serves as a major route for international shipping. The port and surrounding coastal areas are controlled by forces allied with the internationally recognised Yemeni government. The attack occurred amid a sharp escalation of tensions in Yemen in recent days, with the Houthi group launching missile and drone strikes against government forces in the eastern provinces of Marib and Hadramout.