Cnn
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The number of deaths of US air strikes on an oil port in western Yemen has increased to at least 74 people, reported the Ministry of Health managed by the Houthi, marking the deadliest day since the United States intensified its air campaign against the group supported by Iran last month.
US Central Command said Thursday that the strikes of the Ras Isa fuel port in the province of Hodeidah aimed to reduce the revenues of the Houthis, adding that the port had been used as an illicit profile to the group.
“The objective of these strikes was to degrade the economic source of the power of the Houthis, who continue to exploit and hurt their compatriots,” said Centcom in a statement. “This strike was not intended to harm the inhabitants of Yemen.”
Deaths included port workers and paramedical paramedics, the Ministry of Health said on Friday, adding that 171 people were injured.
CNN contacted the Pentagon to comment on the reported toll and was directed to the previous declaration of Centcom.
The Houthi rebels promised on Friday to continue their military operations against Israel and the American forces in the region.
“Yemen will not recede the continuation of its support operations for the Palestinian people until the Israeli aggression on Gaza’s judgments and the seat are lifted,” the armed forces controlled by the Houthis in Yemen in a statement.
The militant group said that the “assault” of the United States against Yemen “would only lead to additional targeting, commitment and confrontation”.
The Houthis shot down a US MQ-9 REAPER drone on Friday, the sixth since March 3, US officials told CNN. Each MQ-9 costs approximately $ 30 million, the United States has added more than 200 sophisticated drones in its arsenal.
Since mid-March, US air strikes have pilled Houthi targets in Yemen, hitting oil refineries, airports and missile sites, US President Donald Trump promising to use “overwhelming force” until the United States achieved its objective of preventing Houthis from targeting expedition to the Red Sea.
The Houthis have launched numerous missiles against Israel and disrupted expeditions in the Red Sea during attacks which, according to them, are in solidarity with the Palestinians against the War of Israel in Gaza since the attacks of October 7, 2023.
The video broadcast on Al-Masirah shows the treatment injured in a hospital after dawn, many with visible burns in their bodies.
“Multiple aerial raids have targeted the region,” said a man who identified himself as a civil defense worker in Al-Masirah while he was lying on an examination table, breathing strongly. “I found myself falling to the ground like a shot.”
Another survivor of the hospital described the moment when the port was struck.
“One strike after the other, the whole area was on fire,” he told Al-Masirah. “When we managed to leave the region, we saw the place where we hid earlier to get hit too.”
The United States says its campaign is working. National Security Advisor Mike Waltz said several Houthi leaders had been killed.
CNN reported earlier than the total cost of the US military operation against Houthi activists in Yemen had approached $ 1 billion in three weeks, according to three people informed of the campaign, but the attacks had so far had a limited impact on the group’s capacities.
While up to 80 Houthi military officers may have been killed, according to analysts, the senior level of its military and political leaders seems intact. The same goes for at least some of its missile launch sites.
On Monday, the Ministry of Health managed by the Houthi said that American attacks had killed at least 123 people, including women and children, and injured 247 others since March 15, reported the Saba news agency managed by the Houthis. CNN cannot independently check the numbers.
Meanwhile, the Houthis continued to launch more than a dozen ballistic missiles in Israel and drone and missile dams to the American navy ships. Although none has caused major damage, the threat remains.
Last Friday, the Israeli army said it had intercepted a missile in Yemen. No injury has been reported, the Emergency Service of Israel said.
Nadeen Ebrahim of CNN, Tim Lister, Eyad Kourdi, Dana Karni and Natasha Bertrand contributed the reports.
