Daijiworld Media Network - Sanaa
Sanaa, Aug 17: Yemen's Houthi group on Monday claimed it had launched a ballistic missile attack on a “Saudi military landing ship” and four escort military boats off Mocha, a Red Sea port city in southwestern Yemen.
In a statement posted on X, Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree claimed the “direct and precise” strikes set the landing ship ablaze, while some of the escort boats sank and others caught fire, Xinhua News Agency reported.
Saree said the Houthis were closely monitoring Saudi military movements as part of their ongoing campaign against Saudi Arabia, a key supporter of Yemen's internationally recognised government.
Separately, Saree claimed that Houthi forces had targeted a weapons depot used by Saudi forces at the Sahn al-Jin camp in Yemen's northeastern Marib province with several drones, causing a fire.
The Houthis have sharply intensified missile and drone attacks in recent weeks against government-held areas in Yemen as well as targets in neighbouring Saudi Arabia.
Mocha, a government-held port city, has emerged as a major flashpoint in the latest escalation. Since August 9, repeated Houthi attacks have reportedly killed and wounded dozens of people, damaged port infrastructure and brought shipping at the port to a halt.
The port is located near the strategic Bab al-Mandab Strait, which links the Red Sea with the Gulf of Aden.
Yemeni government forces, meanwhile, said on Sunday that they had conducted 181 military operations against targets in Houthi-held areas over the previous 24 hours, marking a sharp escalation in fighting between the two sides.
Government military spokesperson Majid al-Nuzaili said in a statement posted on X that drones, artillery and rocket launchers were used to target Houthi positions, weapons depots, military vehicles and other facilities allegedly used to launch attacks.
The operations killed or wounded dozens of Houthi fighters and destroyed military equipment across seven provinces, al-Nuzaili claimed, without providing a detailed casualty figure.
He said the operations were carried out in response to a recent wave of Houthi attacks targeting government forces, civilian infrastructure, economic facilities and ports.