Houthis hit Red Sea port city, threatening regional shipping

Iranian-backed Houthi rebels renew attacks on government-controlled areas in Yemen as the violence threatens to reignite civil war and raises fears over new threats to regional shipping lanes.

Yemen’s military says the rebels targeted the government-held port city of Mokha and the central province of Marib with missiles and drones but does not provide further details. The Houthis also hit Mokha with missiles and drones over the weekend and killed at least seven people, it says.

The escalation by the Houthis against government forces in Yemen and oil facilities in neighboring Saudi Arabia aims to threaten the kingdom’s alternative route for shipping its oil. The attacks could reignite Yemen’s civil war following a 2022 truce, and open a new front in the Middle East war.