Yemen's Mocha port has suspended commercial and maritime operations after being hit by more than 25 missiles in Houthi attacks over recent days, the port's director said on Saturday.
Smoke rises from the port following what the Yemeni military say was a Houthi attack on Mocha, Yemen, August 9, 2026 in this still image taken from video. Video obtained by Reuters
Yemen's Mocha port has suspended commercial and maritime operations after being hit by more than 25 missiles in Houthi attacks over recent days, the port's director said on Saturday.
The attacks killed seven people and caused an estimated $16 million in losses, the director told a news conference.Mocha is a Red Sea port near the Bab el-Mandab strait, a strategic chokepoint connecting the Red Sea with the Gulf of Aden and a key route for international shipping.
The port is controlled by forces aligned with Yemen's internationally recognised government. It has a smaller cargo capacity than Yemen's main ports of Aden and Hodeidah.
Yemen's government said on Friday the Houthis fired six ballistic missiles at Mocha that day, killing at least four civilians and targeting civilian, economic and maritime facilities.
The Houthis said they targeted a military build-up of weapons and warships belonging to Saudi-backed forces in Mocha.
The escalation comes amid heightened regional tensions from the U.S. war on Iran and has raised concerns about a return to large-scale conflict in Yemen.
Major fighting in Yemen had largely subsided following a U.N.-brokered truce in 2022, but efforts to reach a lasting political settlement have stalled.
Reporting by Mohammed Ghobari
Transit through the Strait of Hormuz appeared to grind to a near standstill on Friday after two more ships were attacked there and the United States said it could maintain a naval blockade of Iran indefinitely.
The Strait of Hormuz is "under Iran's control and management", the head of Iran's Basij paramilitary unit, Hossein Taeb, said on Thursday, according to the semi-official Fars news agency.
Iran and the United States remain at loggerheads over efforts to agree a permanent end to the war in the Gulf, according to a senior Iranian source who said there had been no progress in talks to revive the interim deal agreed in June and define a timeframe to implement it.
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