US strikes on a fuel port in Yemen killed at least 38 people on Thursday, Houthi-run media said, one of the deadliest days since the United States began its attacks on the Iran-backed militants.
Al Masirah TV said 102 people were also wounded in Thursday’s strikes on the western fuel port of Ras Isa, which the US military said aimed to cut off a source of fuel for the Houthi militant group.
Responding to a Reuters query for comment on the Houthis’ casualty figure and its own estimate, the US Central Command said it had none beyond the initial announcement of the attacks.
“The objective of these strikes was to degrade the economic source of power of the Houthis, who continue to exploit and bring great pain upon their fellow countrymen,” it had said in a post on X.
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The United States has vowed not to halt the large-scale strikes begun last month in its biggest military operation in the Middle East since president Donald Trump took office in January, unless the Houthis cease attacks on Red Sea shipping.
The Houthis, an armed movement that has taken control of most of Yemen over the past decade, have been attacking shipping lanes at the mouth of the Red Sea, where 15 per cent of the world’s seaborne trade passes on routes between Europe and Asia.
Since November 2023, the Houthis have launched dozens of drone and missile attacks on vessels transiting the waterway, saying they were targeting ships linked to Israel in protest over the war in Gaza.
They halted attacks on shipping lanes during a two-month ceasefire in Gaza. Although they vowed to resume strikes after Israel renewed its assault on Gaza last month, they have not claimed any since.
In March, two days of US attacks killed more than 50 people, Houthi officials said. – Reuters
