Yemen: Houthi strikes halt operation of Yemen's Mocha Port, kill seven.

Repeated Houthi missile and drone attacks have halted commercial and maritime activity at Yemen's Mocha Port near the strategic Bab al-Mandab Strait, killing seven people and causing about 16 million U.S. dollars worth of direct losses, government and port officials said on Saturday. The port, in southwestern Yemen's Taiz province, is a key entry point for commercial goods and supplies bound for government-held areas. Abdulmalik al-Sharabi, director of the government-held port, said the attacks over the past week killed four members of the port's security forces and three port employees, while causing extensive damage to facilities and equipment. He said six wooden vessels and a dredger involved in the port's expansion operation were also damaged. The suspension of shipping and commercial activity has left about 1,300 workers without an income. Yemen's pro-government National Resistance Forces said the Houthis launched 40 ballistic missiles and 46 drones, and used explosive-laden boats in the attacks against Mocha, its port and other sites in the area between Aug 9 and Aug 14. The Houthis have said their operations in the Mocha area targeted military buildups and weapons depots of what they called Saudi-backed Yemeni government forces. Government authorities refuted that account, describing the port as a civilian commercial facility. The escalation has raised concern that Yemen could slide back into full-scale fighting. A U.N.-brokered truce expired in October 2022, but a fragile de facto ceasefire had largely held until the recent attacks. Shotlist: Mocha Port, Yemen - Aug 15, 2026: 1. Various of cityscape, Mocha Port, ocean; 2. Various of people hauling wooden boats; 3. Various of burned-out wooden boats, black smoke rising; charred debris strewn along beach; 4. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Abdulmalik al-Sharabi, director, Mocha Port: "Some of the port's berths were damaged, along with warehouses and the port's own maintenance workshops. Every economic facility in the port complex was targeted in the attack."; 5. Various of shattered plastic drums; 6. Various of burned-out wooden boats reduced to skeletal frames, black smoke rising; 7. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Mohammed al-Ghanami, head, Mocha Merchants' Union: "The attack on Mocha Port caused enormous losses for merchants. There were also casualties among port personnel and workers, including dockworkers, and commercial vessels moored at the port with cargo being loaded also sustained damage."; 8. Cargo piling up on ground; 9. Various of burned-out goods, flames, black smoke rising. [Restrictions: No access Chinese mainland]