DUBAI: A missile attack blamed by the government on Huthi rebels in Yemen on Saturday targeted a key port used to bring humanitarian aid into the war-ravaged country. The Red Sea port of Mokha in southwest Yemen is the headquarters of government forces in the region.

"Three missiles and Huthi drones targeted the port of Mokha near Bab al-Mandab," a government military official told AFP, adding that no casualties were reported.

The Bab al-Mandab strait separates Yemen from 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.

Mokha port reopened for business a month ago after reconstruction and renovation work, the government official said. Southwest Yemen has been relatively free of such attacks since the signing in 2018 of the Stockholm Accord on demilitarising the strategic port of Hodeida north of Mokha.