Houthis step up: Combined attack near Bab al-Mandab - including explosive boats
The Houthis launched a wide wave of attacks on the western coast of Yemen and fired 44 UAVs toward the port of Mocha, alongside ballistic missiles and explosive boats. According to the Yemeni army, an attempt was also made to hit an oil tanker near Bab al-Mandab.
Escalation in Yemen: Today, Friday, Houthi attacks on the port of Mocha and surrounding areas resumed using unmanned aerial vehicles, boats, and ballistic missiles, according to Yemeni military sources. A military source told Al-Arabiya that the Houthis launched 44 UAVs toward the port of Mocha and civilian facilities on the western coast. According to him, defense systems managed to shoot down 15 of them.
The source added that three attacks using explosive boats were thwarted out of six directed at the port of Mocha, and noted that in some of the attacks, an attempt was made to hit an oil tanker near the Bab al-Mandab Strait. He added that a Houthi naval attack was thwarted off the coast of the Wahjah area in Mocha. The operation was carried out using manned boats and unmanned aerial vehicles. During the clashes, eight Houthi personnel were killed.
It was also reported that dozens of UAV attacks were carried out against Houthi positions on the western coast, in parallel with continued artillery fire toward the organization's positions on the fronts west of Taiz. The escalation was not limited to attacks using UAVs and boats. According to government forces in Yemen, the Houthis also resumed firing toward the port of Mocha using ballistic missiles.
Images broadcast live showed the renewal of shelling in the port area, in the latest wave of attacks hitting the western coast. The port of Mocha was attacked just a few days ago in a large-scale attack of missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles, in which, according to the Yemeni army, there were dead and wounded and damage was caused to civilian facilities and service infrastructure.
Mocha has strategic importance due to its location on the Red Sea coast and its proximity to the Bab al-Mandab Strait, one of the most important international shipping lanes in the world. The Houthis' shift to using boats and the attempt to hit an oil tanker near the strait raise additional concerns for the security of shipping in the region, in parallel with the expansion of clashes along the western coast.
The attack comes against the backdrop of the escalation in the country and rising friction between the Houthis and the Yemeni army and Saudi Arabia. At the beginning of the week, Houthis claimed they attacked the refinery of the Saudi oil company Aramco in Jizan. If the claim is verified, it is a further escalation in the regional conflict, days after the Houthis launched a wide attack against the forces of the recognized government in Yemen.
Last Thursday, the Yemeni army announced that the Houthi militia, supported by Iran, attacked government forces, in a move that raises fears of a renewed flare-up of the long-standing civil war in the country.
Last Tuesday, it was reported that three crew members of a commercial ship were killed in an attack attributed to the Houthi rebels in the Bab al-Mandab Strait. This was reported by media outlets in Yemen identified with the government recognized by the international community. According to the report by the Al-Jumhuriya channel, two of the dead are citizens of Pakistan and another crew member is a citizen of Indonesia. The details at this stage are still preliminary, and the name of the ship, the flag under which it was sailing, the identity of its owners, or the extent of the damage caused to it were not provided.
