The night sky over al-Makha turned orange at 2 a.m. — again. Not from a sunrise. From missiles.
For the second time in under 24 hours, Houthi forces launched a coordinated attack on Yemen's strategic port city of al-Makha (Mocha), sending projectiles and drones screaming toward the commercial harbor and residential districts. Witnesses describe panicked families grabbing children and running for the hills as explosions echoed across the waterfront.
“We thought the first attack was a one-off,” said a local fisherman who gave only his first name, Ahmed. “But they came back. They want to kill the port, and everyone who works there.”
The renewed assault, which began just before midnight Sunday, marks a dangerous escalation in a week that was supposed to be moving toward peace. Less than 24 hours earlier, a similar barrage had already damaged cranes, warehouses, and a fuel storage facility.
A Port Under Siege
Al-Makha isn't just another Red Sea town. It's a lifeline. The port handles humanitarian aid, commercial goods, and fuel for millions of Yemenis in the country's south and west. When it stops working, so does the region.
Saturday's attack, which wounded at least a dozen dockworkers, had already forced the port to suspend operations. Sunday's follow-up left no doubt: the Houthis are targeting the port's infrastructure with deliberate, systematic precision.
According to local officials, the latest strikes hit a container yard and a power substation, knocking out electricity to the harbor and nearby neighborhoods. Two tugboats were reported damaged, and a fire raged for hours before crews could contain it.
“This is not random,” said a port engineer who requested anonymity for fear of reprisals. “They are hitting the things we need to operate. Cranes. Power. Fuel. It's like they have a blueprint.”
The Houthis, for their part, claim they are targeting “military objectives” and accuse the Saudi-led coalition of using the port to smuggle weapons. But locals and port workers dismiss that as a thin excuse for what they describe as collective punishment.
“They want to starve us out. That's all this is. They don't care about the war or the peace talks. They just want to control the coast.” — A port worker who fled the second attack
Casualties and Chaos
Numbers are still fuzzy — war zones don't keep clean records — but medical sources at al-Makha General Hospital report at least 6 dead and 23 wounded from the two-day onslaught. The dead include a crane operator and a young mother caught in the street during the second wave.
“The hospital is overwhelmed,” said a nurse who spoke on condition of anonymity. “We ran out of burn supplies by morning. We're using saline to clean wounds. This is not a hospital anymore. It's a triage tent.”
Humanitarian workers say the attacks could not have come at a worse time. The UN had been pushing for a renewed truce and had just brokered a deal to allow fuel imports through al-Makha. That deal now looks dead in the water.
“Every strike on this port is a strike on millions of Yemenis who depend on it for food and medicine,” said a UN humanitarian coordinator, who asked not to be named because of diplomatic sensitivities. “We are one step away from a man-made famine.”
A Truce on the Brink
The timing is politically explosive. For months, international mediators have been shuttling between Sanaa and Riyadh, trying to extend a fragile ceasefire that has held, barely, since April. The Houthis have repeatedly threatened to walk away unless the coalition lifts its blockade on Hodeidah and other ports.
Now, with al-Makha under fire, the entire framework is in jeopardy. Saudi Arabia's response is not yet public, but coalition warplanes were seen overhead within hours of the attack, and residents reported heavy airstrikes on Houthi positions south of the city.
“This is how it starts again — tit for tat,” said a Gulf diplomatic source familiar with the negotiations. “One side breaks the rules, the other retaliates, and the truce becomes a memory.”
The Houthis, who have never hidden their ambition to control the entire Red Sea coast, view al-Makha as a prize. Taking it would give them a chokehold on shipping lanes and a launchpad for further strikes on coalition forces. They've been probing the city's defenses for months.
Sunday's attack suggests they're no longer probing. They're punching.
The Human Toll
Behind the geopolitics are real people paying with their lives. Families who had returned to al-Makha after the truce brought a measure of safety are now fleeing again. The roads out of town are clogged with trucks, taxis, and donkey carts loaded with mattresses and crying children.
“I've lost count of how many times we've run,” said Umm Saleh, a mother of five, waiting by the roadside with a bag of bread and a gas canister. “Every time they talk about peace, we come back. Every time they talk about war, we run. I'm tired.”
Her husband, a day laborer, stayed behind to guard their house. She doesn't know if he's alive.
The port's future is equally uncertain. Even if the attacks stop, the damage will take weeks to repair. Cranes and substations aren't bought at a corner store. They require contracts, shipments, and security — all of which are in short supply here.
For now, the port sits silent, smoke still rising from the latest hit. Fishermen are keeping their boats far from shore. Shops are shuttered. The only movement is the occasional military vehicle speeding through empty streets.
And the Houthis? They've already promised more attacks if their demands aren't met. The next 24 hours, locals say, will tell whether this was a one-off escalation or the start of another round of all-out war.
As one elder put it, sitting outside a damaged mosque: “We thought the worst was over. But the worst always finds a way to come back.”
