Associated Press
U.S. airstrikes targeting an oil port held by Yemen’s Houthi rebels killed 74 people and wounded 171 others, the group said Friday, marking the single-deadliest known attack under President Donald Trump’s new campaign targeting the rebels.
Assessing the toll of Trump’s campaign, which began March 15, has been incredibly difficult as the U.S. military’s Central Command so far has not released any information on the campaign, its specific targets and how many people have been killed. Meanwhile, Yemen’s Houthi rebels strictly control access to areas attacked and don’t publish complete information on the strikes, many of which likely have targeted military and security sites.
But the strike on the Ras Isa port, which sent massive fireballs shooting into the night sky, represented a major escalation for the American campaign by hitting oil facilities for the first time.
In a statement, Central Command said that “U.S. forces took action to eliminate this source of fuel for the Iran-backed Houthi terrorists and deprive them of illegal revenue that has funded Houthi efforts to terrorize the entire region for over 10 years.”
“This strike was not intended to harm the people of Yemen, who rightly want to throw off the yoke of Houthi subjugation and live peacefully,” it added. It did not acknowledge any casualties and declined to comment when asked by The Associated Press regarding civilians reportedly being killed.
The Iranian-backed Houthis later Friday launched a missile toward Israel that was intercepted, the Israeli military said. Sirens sounded in Tel Aviv and other areas.
The war in Yemen, meanwhile, further internationalized as the U.S. alleged a Chinese satellite company was “directly supporting” Houthi attacks, something Beijing declined to directly comment on Friday. And a second round of negotiations between Iran and the U.S. over Tehran’s rapidly advancing nuclear program, which America has linked to the Yemen campaign, is due to happen Saturday in Rome.
US strikes spark massive fireball
The Ras Isa port, a collection of oil tanks and refining equipment, sits in Yemen’s Hodeida governorate along the Red Sea. It is just off Kamaran Island, targeted by intense U.S. airstrikes over the past few days.
The Houthis’ al-Masirah satellite news channel aired graphic footage of the aftermath, showing corpses strewn across the site and smashed tanker trucks ablaze.
The port also is the terminus of an oil pipeline stretching to Yemen’s energy-rich Marib governorate, which remains held by allies of Yemen’s exiled government. The Houthis expelled that government from Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, back in 2014. However, oil exports have been halted by the decadelong war and the Houthis have used Ras Isa to bring in oil.
Ras Isa takes in gasoline, diesel and liquefied petroleum gas for the Houthis. The damage from the strikes could have serious impacts on life in Houthi-held areas of Yemen.
The Houthis denounced the U.S. attack as a “completely unjustified aggression.”
“It targets a vital civilian facility that has served the Yemeni people for decades,” the Houthis said in a statement.
On April 9, the U.S. State Department issued a warning about oil shipments to Yemen, saying it would “not tolerate any country or commercial entity providing support to foreign terrorist organizations, such as the Houthis.”
The attack follows Israeli airstrikes on the Houthis which previously hit port and oil infrastructure used by the rebels after their attacks on Israel, including Ras Isa.
Assessing the toll of Trump’s campaign, which began March 15, has been incredibly difficult as the U.S. military’s Central Command so far has not released any information on the campaign, its specific targets and how many people have been killed. Meanwhile, Yemen’s Houthi rebels strictly control access to areas attacked and don’t publish complete information on the strikes, many of which likely have targeted military and security sites.
But the strike on the Ras Isa port, which sent massive fireballs shooting into the night sky, represented a major escalation for the American campaign by hitting oil facilities for the first time.
In a statement, Central Command said that “U.S. forces took action to eliminate this source of fuel for the Iran-backed Houthi terrorists and deprive them of illegal revenue that has funded Houthi efforts to terrorize the entire region for over 10 years.”
“This strike was not intended to harm the people of Yemen, who rightly want to throw off the yoke of Houthi subjugation and live peacefully,” it added. It did not acknowledge any casualties and declined to comment when asked by The Associated Press regarding civilians reportedly being killed.
The war in Yemen, meanwhile, further internationalized as the U.S. alleged a Chinese satellite company was “directly supporting” Houthi attacks, something Beijing declined to directly comment on Friday. And a second round of negotiations between Iran and the U.S. over Tehran’s rapidly advancing nuclear program, which America has linked to the Yemen campaign, is due to happen Saturday in Rome.
US strikes spark massive fireball
The Ras Isa port, a collection of oil tanks and refining equipment, sits in Yemen’s Hodeida governorate along the Red Sea. It is just off Kamaran Island, targeted by intense U.S. airstrikes over the past few days.
The Houthis’ al-Masirah satellite news channel aired graphic footage of the aftermath, showing corpses strewn across the site and smashed tanker trucks ablaze.
The port also is the terminus of an oil pipeline stretching to Yemen’s energy-rich Marib governorate, which remains held by allies of Yemen’s exiled government. The Houthis expelled that government from Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, back in 2014. However, oil exports have been halted by the decadelong war and the Houthis have used Ras Isa to bring in oil.
Ras Isa takes in gasoline, diesel and liquefied petroleum gas for the Houthis. The damage from the strikes could have serious impacts on life in Houthi-held areas of Yemen.
The Houthis denounced the U.S. attack as a “completely unjustified aggression.”
“It targets a vital civilian facility that has served the Yemeni people for decades,” the Houthis said in a statement.
On April 9, the U.S. State Department issued a warning about oil shipments to Yemen, saying it would “not tolerate any country or commercial entity providing support to foreign terrorist organizations, such as the Houthis.”
The attack follows Israeli airstrikes on the Houthis which previously hit port and oil infrastructure used by the rebels after their attacks on Israel, including Ras Isa.
