US Airstrike On Yemen Oil Port Killed Over 70 People, Trump Escalates Campaign Against Houthis
Dubai: A US airstrike on an important oil port held by Yemen’s Houthi rebels killed more than 70 people and wounded many others, the Iranian-backed rebel group said on Friday, marking a major escalation in the military campaign President Donald Trump launched against the faction last month.
The overnight strike on the Ras Isa port sent massive fireballs billowing skyward and turned tanker trucks into burning wrecks. It was the first American attack on a Houthi-controlled oil facility in the new US bombing campaign. It also came just before the resumption of negotiations in Rome between the US and Iran over Tehran’s rapidly advancing nuclear programme, which Washington has linked to its attacks in Yemen.
The US is targeting the Houthis because of the group’s attacks on shipping in the Red Sea, a crucial global trade route, and on Israel. The Houthis are the last militant group in Iran’s self-described “Axis of Resistance” that is capable of regularly attacking Israel. The port is a major hub for incoming fuel shipments that power areas of Yemen held by the Houthis, and analysts say the airstrike could seriously affect daily life there.
The Houthis, who said the attack killed at least 74 people and wounded 171 others, aired graphic footage of the aftermath on their al-Masirah satellite news channel, showing corpses strewn about the port and smashed tanker trucks. They denounced the strike as a “completely unjustified aggression”.
“It targets a vital civilian facility that has served the Yemeni people for decades,” the group said in a statement. US Central Command declined to answer any questions about possible civilian casualties but referred to a statement in which it said “this strike was not intended to harm the people of Yemen”. “US 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,” it said in its statement.