The reported deaths mark one of the most deadly attacks by the US troops on Yemen.
US airstrikes at Yemen’s RAS ISA oil port killed at least 38 people in one of the deadliest attacks by US forces on the country, Houthi-Afiliated Media reports.
Al Masirah TV said Thursday’s strike also injured 102 people and cited the country’s Hodeidah Health Department.
The US Central Command (CENTCOM) said the aviation strike was intended to cut off funding and resources for the Hoosys.
“The purpose of these strikes was to break down the source of economic power in the Houchys, which continues to exploit their fellow compatriots and bring about great pain,” Centcom said in a social media post.
The Pentagon did not immediately respond to requests for comment regarding the rise in deaths.
Correspondent of Al Jazeera, Mohammad Al-Attab, said the US Air Force has collided with several different areas but is most concentrated around port facilities.
“The first four air raids unfolded while people were working,” he said from Sanaa, Yemen’s capital. He said he was surprised, including a truck driver who was on the scene at the time.
The US attacks were widely condemned beyond Yemen for civilian deaths and the strategic importance of Ras Isa, Al Attab said.
Approximately 70% of Yemen’s imports and 80% of humanitarian aid pass through the ports of Ras Isa, Hodeidah and As-Salif.
Video footage shared by Almasiler TV on social media early on Friday morning shows a massive explosion illuminating the night sky across the body of waters identified as Ras Isa Port. The video then jumps to a close-up clip of a tile rub before panning into a graphic image of a dead civilian.
“In the first footage of a US aggression crime targeting the RAS ISA oil port, many martyrs and dozens of dock workers and employees were injured,” the caption attached to the post said in Arabic.
Other videos shared by Al Masirah on X show similar scenes of destruction and interviews with a heavily burned dock worker.
The US attack has been one of the most deadly since the US President Donald Trump took office in January and the US launched its air force against the Housis in its biggest military operation in the Middle East. In March, two-day US attacks killed more than 50 people, Houthi officials said
The RAS ISA hosts oil pipelines and ports, Yemen’s “critical and irreplaceable infrastructure,” according to the UN Development Programme.
A television correspondent for Al Masila said members of the Civil Defence Force and Yemeni Red Crescent were sent to the scene to provide medical assistance and eliminate the fire.
Houthi civil servant Mohammed Nasser Al-Atifi told the news outlet that “crimes of the American enemy” would not stop Yemeni people from supporting Gaza, but “rather enhance their immobility and resilience.”
Earlier on Friday and hours after a devastating US attack, Israeli forces said they intercepted missiles fired from Yemen.
Since November 2023, Houthis reportedly launched more than 100 attacks on vessels that it says are related to Israel.
Washington warned the Houchis that the attack would continue until the armed movement halts its attack on transport in the Red Sea.
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