Houthi missile strike on Yemen military base kills 6, forces hospital closure

Six people, including four civilians, were killed in an attack by Yemeni rebels on a military base in the Red Sea coastal town of Mokha, medical sources said on Thursday, November 7.

The strike also damaged a hospital run by Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders) and forced its operations to be suspended.

The attack comes after weeks of relative calm in Yemen, which together with the signing of a peace deal between the government and southern separatists, had created a sliver of optimism over ending the years of conflict.

The Iran-backed Houthi rebels, who have been battling the internationally recognized Yemeni government, launched four ballistic missiles and drones towards a military position in Mokha, a Yemeni military official told AFP.

Medics said six people, including four civilians, were killed and 26 wounded.

“The Patriot air defense system intercepted three missiles, while a fourth landed in the military base,” said the military source, who declined to be identified.

The source said the attack destroyed a weapons storage facility used by pro-government forces.

The rebels have made no claim of responsibility.

MSF said there were no casualties among their staff or patients.

“The hospital in Mokha was damaged as a result of an attack on a nearby facility, and work there has been suspended for the time being,” a representative told AFP.

Tens of thousands of people, most of them civilians, have been killed since Saudi Arabia and its allies intervened in March 2015 in support of the beleaguered government.

The conflict in Yemen, which the United Nations has described as the world’s worst humanitarian crisis, has also displaced millions and left 24.1 million people – more than two-thirds of the population – in need of aid.

With reporting from AFP