ADEN, Sept 18 (NNN-Xinhua) — Yemen’s government said that it had complained to the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) over the Houthi attack on the Mocha port, a newly refurbished commercial seaport in the country’s southwestern part.
According to a statement released by the state-run Saba News Agency, the government raised its concerns to the UNSC regarding the recent Houthi shelling of Mocha port with four missiles and three explosive-laden drones.
“The Houthi militia attacked the Mocha port shortly after the local authorities completed its rehabilitation in preparation for the resumption of receiving commercial goods and humanitarian aid to ease Yemenis suffering,” Yemen’s permanent representative to the UN, Abdullah Al-Saadi, said in a letter to the UNSC.
He said the attack was another example of the Houthi militia’s “continuation in targeting of civilians and civilian infrastructure in a flagrant violation of international humanitarian law.”
He pointed out that “the Houthi attack deprived tens of thousands of families of receiving life-saving aid, and prevented aid and commercial goods from reaching millions of Yemenis and families in need through the port.”
The government’s letter to the UNSC indicated that “the Houthis deliberately exacerbate human suffering and push Yemen towards a looming famine.”
The Houthi missile attack destroyed the port’s warehouses containing large food stockpiles that belong to humanitarian agencies operating in Yemen’s western coast areas, according to the government.
Meanwhile, an official of Yemen’s government said that “the shelling of Mocha seaport sparked fears that similar Houthi missile attacks might target other ports in the country.”
“The local authorities called on the Saudi-led coalition to secure the strategic port of Aden through deploying missile system to abort imminent Houthi attacks,” the official said anonymously.
“The escalation of Houthi attacks on Yemen’s seaports multiplies the threats of targeting the international shipping lines and oil ships in the Red Sea and the Bab al-Mandeb Strait,” according to the Yemeni official.
Last week, the Houthi militias targeted the port of Mocha, west of Taiz province, a few minutes after a visit by a high-level delegation from the Ministry of Transport, on the occasion of the resumption of work in the port, which had been suspended for years.
The pro-government forces captured Mocha on Yemen’s western Red Sea coast after battles against the Houthis in 2017.
The Houthi rebels seized the northern Yemeni provinces, including the capital Sanaa, in late 2014, forcing President Abdu-Rabbu Mansour Hadi and his government into exile in neighboring Saudi Arabia.
A coalition formed by Saudi Arabia and several other Arab countries intervened militarily in the Yemeni conflict against the Houthis in March 2015, in response to an official request from Hadi to protect Yemen.
