Aug 14 (Reuters) - Yemen's internationally recognised

government said Iran-aligned Houthis fired six ballistic

missiles at the Red Sea port of Mocha on Friday, killing at

least four civilians.

The escalation in hostilities between the Houthis and the

Saudi-backed government has come amid heightened regional

tensions from the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran. The Houthis have

emerged as a key front in that war, raising the prospect of a

return to large-scale conflict in Yemen.

The Yemeni armed forces aligned with the government said in

a statement that the Houthi attack on Mocha targeted a civilian

facility and economic and maritime installations, killing one

port security guard. Two sailors were also missing and eight

civilians were wounded, the armed forces said.

A military source told Saba News Agency earlier on Friday

the Houthis hit Mocha with six missiles, resulting in the death

of four civilians and the burning of several fishing boats.

The Houthis said they used ballistic missiles to attack what

they described as a military build-up of weapons and warships

belonging to Saudi-backed forces and "mercenaries" in Mocha,

destroying boats and weapons.

Separately, the Houthi-run SABA news agency cited a military

source as saying the group had also targeted a Saudi Aramco

facility in the Saudi city of Najran with a drone.

The source said the Najran attack was a response to what it

described as Saudi military aircraft entering airspace over the

northeastern part of Yemen's Saada governorate. The report did

not identify the precise target or say whether it had been hit.

There was no immediate confirmation from Saudi authorities

or Aramco of a strike on Najran.

Yemen has been periodically engulfed by conflict since the

Houthis seized the capital Sanaa in 2014, prompting a Saudi-led

military intervention the following year. Until July this year,

major fighting had largely subsided under a U.N.-brokered truce

in 2022, but efforts to secure a lasting political settlement

have stalled.