Yemen rebels attack aid port with missiles: Govt

Amissileattackblamed by the government on HuthirebelsinYemenon Saturday targeted a keyportused to bring humanitarianaidinto the war-ravaged country.

The Red Seaportof Mokha in southwestYemenis the headquarters of government forces in the region.

"Threemissilesand Huthi drones targeted theportof Mokha near Bab al-Mandab," a government military official told AFP, adding that no casualties were reported.

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The Bab al-Mandab strait separatesYemenfrom Djibouti and is a key passage for international trade, trafficking and illegal migration.

Yemen, the Arabian Peninsula's poorest country, has been devastated by a seven-year conflict pitting the Iran-backed Huthis against the government which is supported by a Saudi-led military coalition.

The southwest is vital for the import and delivery of humanitarian supplies.

Mokhaportreopened for business a month ago after reconstruction and renovation work, the government official said.

SouthwestYemenhas been relatively free of such attacks since the signing in 2018 of the Stockholm Accord on demilitarising the strategicportof Hodeida north of Mokha.

Sporadic clashes have taken place in the region, sparking appeals for calm from the United Nations which has been unable to secure similar deals elsewhere inYemen.

Some 80 percent of Yemenis are now dependent onaid, in what the UN calls the world's worst humanitarian crisis. The war has displaced millions of people.

The UN has issued regular warnings thatYemencould see major famine in 2021, after it raised just $1.7 billion of the $3.85 billion it says the country needs.

The conflict flared in 2014 when Huthi insurgents seized the capital Sanaa, prompting a Saudi-led military intervention to prop up the government the following year.