Houthi attack on Yemen’s Mokha port disrupts aid delivery

The Houthis dispatched a boat laden with explosives to strike the vital port, imperiling the delivery of humanitarian aid to Yemenis, officials tell Al-Mashareq.

By Abu Bak al-Yamani in Sanaa

2017-07-31

Pro-government forces walk in the port of the western Yemeni coastal town of Mokha on February 9th. Houthi militias attacked the port on July 29th with an explosive-laden vessel. [Saleh al-Obeidi/AFP]

The Saturday (July 29th) boat attack by the Houthis (Ansarallah) on the port of Mokha will further impede the delivery of much-needed humanitarian aid to war-stricken Yemen, officials told Al-Mashareq.

The Houthis used a remote-controlled vessel packed with explosives to attack the Red Sea port, AFP reported.

The boat exploded by the quayside, without causing any injuries or damage.

The targeting of the Mokha seaport by the Houthis "will disrupt relief and humanitarian aid deliveries" after the port had resumed its operations and started receiving humanitarian aid, said Minister of Local Administration and head of the Higher Committee for Relief Abdul Raqeeb Saif Fateh.

"These militias have shown with their daily practices that they reject any peaceful solution that would put an end to the Yemeni people’s suffering," he told Al-Mashareq.

Houthi attack destroys infrastructure

Prime Minister Ahmed Obaid bin Dagher also condemned the attack.

"The terrorist operation carried out by al-Houthi and Saleh militias against the Mokha seaport with an explosives-laden boat reflects the militias’ sense of defeat as they resort to destroying the country’s infrastructure," he said in a Twitter post.

The Houthis "continue to violate all international resolutions and norms, by targeting the security of Yemen’s seaports, and threatening international navigation and regional and international security," the Arab coalition said in a statement.

"With these criminal acts, they are disrupting the ongoing relief and humanitarian aid deliveries, most notably of medical supplies to help treat cholera [symptoms]," the statement said.

Yemen’s Ministry of Human Rights denounced the attack and called on the international community to enforce the UN Security Council Resolution 2216 in order to "stop the savage and criminal practices of these militias".

The UN said on Wednesday (July 26th) that a vicious combination of war, cholera and hunger has left 80% of Yemeni children in desperate need of aid.

The cholera outbreak has already claimed more than 1,800 lives since April, with 400,000 suspected cases across the country, according to the UN and the International Committee of the Red Cross.