Six dead as Houthis launch drone attack on Yemen’s Mocha port

Iranian-backed Houthi forces on Friday once again targeted the port of Mocha and civilian facilities on the western coast of Yemen with drones. According to reports, 15 of the 44 Houthi drones launched toward the port were intercepted, but the attack resulted in at least six deaths. The strike also destroyed a shipment of weapons that had recently arrived from Saudi Arabia. Meanwhile, the Houthi-aligned SABA news agency reported that Houthi forces targeted an Aramco facility in the Saudi city of Najran with a drone. The Houthis claimed the attack was in response to Saudi military aircraft entering airspace over Saada province. Mocha serves as a primary shipping gateway administered by Yemen's internationally recognized government, functioning as a vital hub to bypass the Houthi-controlled port of Hodeida. Tensions between the Houthis and the Saudi-led coalition have escalated in recent weeks, with continued strikes on energy infrastructure and commercial shipping lanes throughout the Red Sea.