AIR strikes by the United States on Yemen’s Ras Isa oil port have killed over 80 people in what is one of the deadliest attacks on the country by US forces, according to the Houthi rebels who are in control of the territory.
The Hodeidah Health Office upped the death toll late on Friday, saying 150 people were also wounded in the strikes that were carried out on Thursday, according to Houthi-affiliated Al-Masirah channel. Rescue workers and paramedics were among the casualties, officials said.
The US Central Command (CENTCOM) said the air strikes were intended to cut off the Houthis’ source of fuel and revenue.
“Today, US forces took action to eliminate this source of fuel for the Iran-backed Houthi terrorists,” CENTCOM said on Thursday in a post on social media. “The objective of these strikes was to degrade the economic source of power of the Houthis.”
Al Jazeera correspondent Mohammed al-Attab, reporting from Yemen’s capital Sanaa, said the US air strikes hit several different areas, but were most concentrated around the port facility.
“The first four air raids were waged while the people were working,” he said. The air raids took employees by surprise, he said, including truck drivers who were on the scene at the time.
The attack drew widespread condemnation across Yemen due to the civilian deaths and the strategic importance of Ras Isa, al-Attab added
Following the strikes, the Houthis announced missile attacks on sites in Israel and two US aircraft carriers. Israel’s military said earlier on Friday that it had intercepted a missile launched from Yemen.
“The American military build-up and continued aggression against our country will only lead to more counter-attack and attack operations, clashes and confrontations,” Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree told demonstrators gathered in Sanaa to protest American and Israeli actions.
About 70 percent of Yemen’s imports and 80 percent of its humanitarian assistance pass through the ports of Ras Isa, Hodeidah and as-Salif.
Video footage shared by Al Masirah TV on social media in the early hours of Friday morning shows massive explosions lighting up the night sky across a body of water identified as Ras Isa port. The video then jumps to close-up clips of rubble and fires before panning to a graphic image of a dead civilian.
“Initial footage of the US aggression’s crime targeting the Ras Isa oil port, resulting in a number of martyrs and dozens of port workers and employees being injured,” a caption attached to the post said in Arabic.
Other videos shared by Al Masirah on X show similar scenes of destruction and interviews with badly burned port workers.