U.S. airstrikes hit the Ras Isa oil port held by Yemen’s Houthi terrorists early Friday morning, reportedly killing 38 people and wounding 102 others, in one of the deadliest attacks of Washington’s renewed campaign against the Iran-backed group.
The U.S. military’s Central Command confirmed the strike signified 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, AP reports.
The attack against the terrorists is intended to continue harming their ability to fire missiles at shipping traffic using the Red Sea as well as stop them earning income.
The Houthis later Friday launched a missile toward Israel that was intercepted, the Israeli military said, causing sirens to sound in Tel Aviv and other areas.
In a statement seen by AP, Central Command said “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.
No official casualty figures were issued. No further comment given asked by AP regarding civilians reportedly being killed.
A Houthi-run television station that broadcast footage of large blazes lighting up the night sky alleged the strikes injured more than 100 people and killed 38, AFP reports.
No evidence was offered to support the casualty claim.
“Thirty-eight workers and employees killed and 102 others injured in a preliminary toll of the U.S. aggression on the Ras Issa oil facility,” Al-Masirah TV said, quoting anonymous health authorities in rebel-held Hodeida.
The U.S. military has hammered the Houthis with near-daily air strikes since March 15 in a bid to end their attacks on shipping in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden.
The Houthis were named a foreign terrorist organization by the U.S. government until President Joe Biden lifted their designation early in his term, in an unsuccessful drive to curb their aggressive acts, as Breitbart News reported.
The Biden administration dithered over naming the Houthis as terrorists again after they conducted dozens of attacks at sea, but never took action. Trump ordered the designation restored, and the State Department did so on March 10, 2025.
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