US air strikes targeting a major oil terminal on Yemen’s Red Sea coast, controlled by the Houthi movement, have killed at least 58 people and left 126 others injured, according to Houthi-run media.
The US military confirmed it had destroyed Ras Issa “to eliminate this source of fuel for the Iran-backed Houthi terrorists and deprive them of illegal revenue.”
In response, the Houthi-led government in north-western Yemen condemned the attack, calling the terminal a civilian facility and labeling the strike a “full-fledged war crime.”
This marks one of the deadliest incidents since President Donald Trump ordered US forces to increase their bombing campaign last month, following Houthi attacks on Red Sea shipping and Israeli targets tied to the Gaza war.
Several hours after the air strikes on Ras Issa, the Israeli military intercepted a missile launched from Yemen. Sirens were triggered in several Israeli areas, but no casualties or damage were reported.
Houthi-run Al-Masirah TV stated that 14 air strikes had hit Ras Issa late Thursday. Videos shared online reportedly showed explosions, large fires, and destroyed fuel tankers at the site, located about 60km (35 miles) north of Hudaydah.
The channel cited local health authorities, saying many of the dead were workers at the terminal. It also reported that five paramedics died in secondary US strikes as they arrived to assist.
Though casualty figures could not be independently verified, footage from Al-Masirah appeared to show at least 10 charred bodies near the burning tankers, including one driver, along with men being treated for serious burns at a hospital.
“We affirm that the targeting of the Ras Issa oil port is a full-fledged war crime, as the port is a civilian facility and not a military one,” the Houthi-run government declared in a statement.
“We hold the US administration fully responsible for the consequences resulting from its escalation in the Red Sea,” it warned.
The US military’s Central Command explained in a statement that the objective of the strikes was “to degrade the economic source of power of the Houthis, who continue to exploit and bring great pain upon their fellow countrymen.”
“The Houthis, their Iranian masters, and those who knowingly aid and abet their terrorist actions should be put on notice that the world will not accept illicit smuggling of fuel and war material to a terrorist organisation,” the statement added.
Iran’s foreign ministry strongly condemned the air strikes as “barbaric.”
On Thursday, Houthi leader Abdul Malik al-Houthi delivered a defiant speech, asserting that the recent US strikes had failed to hinder their operations. He claimed that his forces had launched nearly 80 operations since mid-March, involving about 170 missiles and drones. These included 30 attacks on the US aircraft carrier USS Harry S Truman and 26 attacks on Israel.
Yemen has been ravaged by civil war for nearly a decade, following the Houthi takeover of the country’s north-west in 2014. The intervention of a Saudi-led coalition, backed by the US, aimed to restore the internationally-recognised government.
The war has caused immense human suffering, with over 150,000 deaths and 4.8 million people displaced. Around 19.5 million people, roughly half the population, are in urgent need of humanitarian assistance.
Since November 2023, the Houthis have targeted numerous merchant vessels in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden with missiles, drones, and small boat attacks. They have sunk two ships, seized a third, and killed four crew members.
The Houthis claim to be acting in support of Palestinians in the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas in Gaza. They assert, often falsely, that they are targeting vessels only associated with Israel, the US, or the UK.
Despite the presence of Western warships in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden to protect merchant vessels, and multiple rounds of US strikes on military targets under former President Joe Biden, the Houthis have remained undeterred.
In January, President Trump re-designated the Houthis as a “Foreign Terrorist Organisation,” reversing the Biden administration’s removal of the designation, which had been made in part to alleviate Yemen’s humanitarian crisis.
Last month, Trump ordered large-scale strikes on Houthi-controlled areas, warning that the group would be “completely annihilated” and that Iran should cease arming them, a claim Iran repeatedly denies.
Since last July, Israel has also launched air strikes against the Houthis in retaliation for the numerous missiles and drones launched from Yemen, most of which have been intercepted by the Israeli military.
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