U.S. airstrikes kill 20 at Yemen oil port held by Houthis

U.S. airstrikes targeting the Ras Isa oil port held by Yemen’s Houthi rebels killed 20 people and wounded 50 others, the group said early Friday. The strikes, confirmed by the U.S. military’s Central Command, represent one of the highest reported death tolls so far in the campaign launched under President Donald Trump that has involved hundreds of strikes since March 15. The Houthis’ al-Masirah satellite news channel aired graphic footage of the aftermath of the attack, showing corpses strewn across the site. It said paramedic and civilians workers at the port had been killed in the attack, which sparked a massive explosion and fires.

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 Ras Isa port, a collection of three oil tanks and refining equipment, sits in Yemen's Hodeida governorate along the Red Sea. NASA satellites that track forest fires showed an intense blaze early Friday morning at the site just off Kamaran Island, targeted by intense U.S. airstrikes over the last few days. The Ras Isa 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 2015. However, oil exports have been halted by the decade-long war and the Houthis have used Ras Isa to bring in oil.

The Houthis denounced the U.S. attack. “This completely unjustified aggression represents a flagrant violation of Yemen’s sovereignty and independence and a direct targeting of the entire Yemeni people,” the Houthis said in a statement carried by the SABA news agency they control. “It targets a vital civilian facility that has served the Yemeni people for decades.” On April 9, the U.S. State Department issued a warning about oil shipments to Yemen. “The United States will not tolerate any country or commercial entity providing support to foreign terrorist organizations, such as the Houthis, including offloading ships and provisioning oil at Houthi-controlled ports,” it said. The attack follows Israeli airstrikes on the Houthis which previously hit port and oil infrastructure used by the rebels after their attacks on Israel.