Direct proof of use
The 60 mm mortar appears in the 2014 Yemen Civil War record through attempted supply rather than confirmed battlefield firing. Combined Maritime Forces reported that HMAS Darwin boarded a stateless fishing-style vessel about 170 nautical miles off Oman in February 2016 and found 20 60 mm mortar tubes alongside AK-type rifles, RPG launchers, PKM machine guns, and spare barrels.
The shipment's destination was initially reported as Somalia, but later U.S. Fifth Fleet reporting tied the 2015-2016 interdiction series to Yemen. In a 2018 release, the U.S. Navy said analysis of crew interviews, onboard records, and the arms aboard the vessels led the United States to conclude that the four 2015-2016 interdicted caches originated in Iran and were intended for delivery to the Houthis in Yemen.
Sources: CMF HMAS Darwin Cache, U.S. Fifth Fleet Gulf of Aden Seizure
Dated milestones
On 27-28 February 2016, HMAS Darwin conducted the boarding that produced the 20 60 mm mortar tubes. Combined Maritime Forces described the cache publicly on 6 March 2016 and said the vessel had been assessed as stateless before the weapons were removed under United Nations sanctions authority.
ARES published a follow-up assessment in August 2016 arguing that the HMAS Darwin and FS Provence seizures were very likely Iran-origin shipments and more likely bound for Yemen than Somalia, either directly or by way of an intermediate port. The later U.S. Fifth Fleet release went further, stating that the United States assessed all four 2015-2016 interdictions as Iran-origin arms intended for Houthi forces in Yemen.
CSIS later placed the HMAS Darwin seizure in a table of maritime interdictions connected to the Yemen conflict, listing the cache as including 20 60 mm mortar tubes and describing the broader public interdiction effort against ships carrying weapons to Yemen.
Sources: CMF HMAS Darwin Cache, ARES Maritime Arms Seizures, U.S. Fifth Fleet Gulf of Aden Seizure, CSIS Missile War in Yemen
Narrative
The cited public record supports a narrow Yemen-conflict claim: 60 mm mortar tubes were part of an illicit maritime arms shipment that U.S. authorities later assessed as intended for Houthi delivery. It does not identify a specific mortar model, show the tubes reaching Yemen, or document a 60 mm mortar being fired by Houthi-aligned forces.
That distinction matters because light mortars are a broad weapon class. In this record, the side attribution is Houthi-aligned forces because the U.S. assessment tied the interdicted 2015-2016 caches to intended Houthi delivery; the operational role is attempted light-mortar supply for infantry fire support, not confirmed combat employment.
Sources: U.S. Fifth Fleet Gulf of Aden Seizure, ARES Maritime Arms Seizures, Iran Primer Seizures Timeline
