The Houthis have intensified attacks on Marib and the port of Mokha, placing the government’s main energy hub and a strategic commercial gateway near Bab al-Mandab under sustained pressure. The escalation reinforces an earlier Sheba Intelligence assessment that the group would concentrate its pressure on three interconnected fronts: Marib’s energy resources, Bab al-Mandab and the Saudi border.

Local authorities in Marib said the Houthis launched a sixth ballistic missile towards the city, threatening residential areas and displacement camps. The intended targets were not disclosed, and there is no confirmed evidence that the latest missiles directly targeted oil or gas facilities.

Nevertheless, repeated attacks on Marib create persistent risks around Yemen’s principal energy centre. The governorate hosts oil and gas fields, the Safer facilities and key power and supply infrastructure. It is also a major military and population centre with a large displaced community. Keeping it under missile pressure strains government forces and threatens the stability required for energy production and transport.

On the western coast, the Houthis have mounted a concentrated campaign against Mokha port. Port Director Abdulmalik al-Sharabi said the facility was struck 25 times with missiles and drones on 8 August, while the latest attack targeted its quay with five ballistic missiles.

The strikes killed seven people, including four members of the port’s facility protection force and three employees. Direct losses are estimated at $16 million. Six wooden vessels, a dredger involved in the port’s expansion and sections of critical infrastructure were damaged. Operations have stopped, leaving around 1,300 workers without jobs.

The Taiz Health Office recorded 16 deaths and 53 injuries across the governorate between 1 and 14 August. Mokha accounted for 13 deaths and 52 injuries, while the remaining casualties were reported in Maqbanah and Sabir al-Mawadim.

National Resistance spokesperson Sadiq Dowaid said the Houthis had launched 40 ballistic missiles and 46 drones, in addition to explosive boats, over several days against Mokha and other civilian facilities.

The scale and concentration of the attacks indicate that disabling the port has become an operational objective rather than incidental damage. Before the escalation, Mokha was experiencing growing commercial activity and undergoing expansion. Its closure weakens an alternative government-controlled trade outlet and reduces the logistical value of the western coast in any future confrontation around Hodeidah and Bab al-Mandab.

Presidential Leadership Council Chairman Rashad al-Alimi described the attack on Mokha as part of a systematic war against Yemen’s resources and economic lifelines. He said the Houthis were targeting ports, airports and economic facilities while threatening commercial shipping and supplies of food and fuel. Al-Alimi also linked the attack to the port’s proximity to Bab al-Mandab and the broader Iranian escalation against regional infrastructure and maritime routes.

Foreign Minister Afrah al-Zouba said the renewed ballistic missile attacks on Mokha and the western coast were an attempt to strike one of Yemen’s lifelines and weaken the state’s ability to protect the Red Sea, Bab al-Mandab and maritime traffic.

She said the focus on the western coast underscored the role of government forces in securing shipping lanes and restricting weapons-smuggling routes to the Houthis. Al-Zouba added that Bab al-Mandab must not become a pressure tool in the hands of an armed group serving Iran’s regional agenda and threatening neighbouring states.

She called for stronger support for Yemen’s navy and Coast Guard, describing their ability to operate in this strategic area as an investment in Yemeni, regional and international trade security.

The attacks reveal a coordinated pressure strategy against government-held economic assets. Marib is being kept under missile threat as the government’s energy and military centre, while Mokha is being pushed out of operation as a commercial and logistical gateway near Bab al-Mandab.

The Houthis do not need to seize Marib’s energy facilities or capture Mokha to impose economic costs. Sustained insecurity around the energy sector and the disruption of port operations are sufficient to drain government resources, increase commercial risks and deepen the humanitarian burden.