Houthis Unleash 20-Missile Barrage on Al-Makha Port, Killing 7

Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi rebels launched a massive missile barrage on the strategic port of Al-Makha in southwestern Yemen on Sunday, firing more than 20 missiles at the facility shortly after a shipment of military equipment arrived there. At least seven members of the Saudi-backed National Resistance Forces were killed and 35 others were wounded in the strike, according to Yemeni government media citing medical sources. The attack severely damaged port infrastructure, according to officials, adding to a string of Houthi strikes across Yemen's Red Sea coast in recent days that have raised fresh alarm over the safety of one of the world's most critical shipping corridors.

Al-Makha, also known as Mocha, sits near the vital Bab al-Mandab Strait and is controlled by Yemen's internationally recognized, Saudi-backed government, having been renovated in recent years specifically to handle shipping traffic that avoids Houthi-held ports further north. Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree claimed the strike destroyed weaponry and inflicted dozens of casualties, including among Saudi personnel, though the group's claims about the scale of damage to military targets have not been independently verified. The timing of the assault, striking almost immediately after a shipment of military equipment reached the port, suggests the Houthis had detailed intelligence on the resupply effort and moved quickly to intercept it.

Sunday's strike is the latest in an escalating wave of Houthi attacks that has pushed Yemen closer to a full return of civil war more than four years after a 2022 truce brought a fragile calm to the country. The assault came just days after Houthi missile and drone attacks killed dozens of Yemeni government troops in what was described as the deadliest single day of fighting in years, and follows a separate Houthi-claimed drone strike on a Saudi Aramco refinery in Jazan. With Yemen increasingly drawn into the broader regional conflict stemming from the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran, officials on all sides are bracing for further escalation along the Red Sea coast in the days ahead.