SANA’A (Dispatches) –
 Yemen’s armed forces launched a major offensive against Saudi-backed positions in the strategic port city of Mokha on Monday, firing dozens of ballistic missiles and drones in response to Saudi aggression and the ongoing blockade of Yemeni territory.
The attacks targeted military concentrations, weapons depots, and operational command centers belonging to Saudi-led coalition forces in the Mokha area. 
According to the Yemeni army, the strikes killed at least seven people and wounded approximately 35 others, with damage reported to both military infrastructure and residential areas.
The latest escalation stems from a Saudi airstrike on July 13 that hit the runway of Sana’a International Airport, preventing the landing of an Iranian humanitarian flight carrying a high-ranking Yemeni delegation. 
The Saudi-led coalition struck the airport, threatening to unravel the fragile UN-brokered truce that had held since April 2022. 
UN envoy Hans Grundberg warned that the escalation risks “jeopardizing the gains of the 2022 truce... while also drawing the country into a broader regional confrontation”.
The blocked flight, operated by Iranian-owned Mahan Air, was an attempt by Yemen’s Ansarullah movement to challenge the Saudi blockade and secure political and economic concessions. 
The Sana’a-based government had rejected a compromise offer from Saudi Arabia to facilitate travel on a non-Iranian airline.
Following the Sana’a airport strike, Yemen attacked Abha International Airport in southwestern Saudi Arabia and announced a blockade on Saudi shipping in the Red Sea. They also targeted oil facilities inside the kingdom, including a Saudi Aramco refinery in Jizan.