A US air strike on a key oil terminal on Yemen’s Red Sea coast controlled by the Houthi movement has killed at least 74 people and wounded 171 others, according to the Houthi-run health ministry.
The US military said it destroyed Ras Isa to eliminate a source of fuel for Iranian-backed Houthis and deprive them of illegal revenue. The Houthi-led government in north-west Yemen described the terminal as a civilian facility and called the strikes a “war crime”.
This is the deadliest known attack since President Donald Trump’s intensification of the US bombing campaign last month, which aimed to respond to Houthi attacks on Red Sea shipping and Israel linked to the Gaza war.
The strike was part of a surge in tensions between Yemen’s warring factions and their allies. The Houthis have targeted dozens of merchant vessels with missiles, drones, and small boat attacks in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, sinking two vessels and killing four crew members.
Iran’s foreign ministry condemned the strikes as “barbaric”. Meanwhile, Houthi leader Abdul Malik al-Houthi claimed the recent US strikes failed to stop their attacks, saying his group’s forces had carried out 80 operations involving over 170 missiles and drones since mid-March.
Source: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/clywg335680o