Yemen government vows response after Houthi missiles hit Mokha port

Yemen’s internationally recognised government has vowed a "harsh" response intended to deter further attacks after Houthi forces fired ballistic missiles at the Red Sea port of Mokha, in the latest escalation around the strategically important west-coast city near the Bab al-Mandab Strait.

One member of port security was killed, while two sailors were reported missing. Eight civilians, including two security personnel, were wounded, according to an initial toll issued by the government.

Colonel Majed al-Nuzaili, spokesman for the Yemeni armed forces, said six ballistic missiles struck Mokha port on Friday evening in what he called an attack on a civilian, economic and maritime facility.

"The armed forces will not allow civilian facilities to be turned into military targets," al-Nuzaili said, pledging a "deterrent and harsh" response to attacks on Yemeni infrastructure and interests.

The Houthi shelling also struck residential areas in Mokha, with Yemeni authorities reporting that four civilians were killed and several fishing boats set on fire. A military source told the state-run Saba News Agency that air defences shot down a Houthi drone during the attack.

Port officials said four ballistic missiles hit a quay where an excavator was deepening the navigation channel. Abdulmalik al-Sharabi, Mokha port’s director, said the strike appeared intended to disable the excavation work and damage its equipment, potentially disrupting shipping activity.

Mokha is a key government-held port on Yemen’s Red Sea coast, located close to the Bab al-Mandab Strait, a maritime chokepoint linking the Red Sea with the Gulf of Aden and a major route for global commerce.

Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree said the group had carried out a large-scale operation using ballistic missiles, claiming it targeted gunboats, weapons stores and military gatherings in Mokha.

Saree said the attack had caused destruction to military equipment and killed and injured "Saudi military mobilisations", without providing evidence, a casualty figure or precise locations. The Houthis have framed the operation as a response to what they describe as Saudi-backed military deployments along Yemen’s western coast.

The government-aligned forces and port authorities, however, said civilian neighbourhoods and critical commercial infrastructure had been struck.

Government and diplomatic warnings

A source in Yemen’s Presidential Leadership Council said continued Houthi attacks on ports, civilian facilities, economic sites and international shipping lanes "will not go unpunished".

The council said Mokha was one of the supply arteries relied on by millions of Yemenis for food, medicine, fuel and other essentials, warning that continued attacks could deepen an already severe humanitarian crisis.

Foreign Minister Afrah al-Zouba also said the targeting of Mokha threatened a Yemeni "lifeline" and jeopardised efforts to safeguard shipping in the Red Sea and Bab al-Mandab. In a post on X, she accused the Houthis of seeking to undermine government forces’ efforts to curb arms-smuggling routes and secure maritime navigation.

"Bab al-Mandab will not become a tool for pressure in the hands of an armed terrorist group," she said, calling for greater support for government forces, navies and coast guards to protect commercial ports, cargo vessels and freedom of navigation.

Government artillery meanwhile targeted Houthi gatherings and movements west of Jabal Han, west of Taiz city, according to the Yemeni Armed Forces Media Centre, without providing information on casualties or damage.