The toll from the militants’ Health Ministry in Sanaa, Yemen’s capital, reflected the destruction from the overnight strikes that left fuel trucks burning and sent fireballs into the night sky.
The attack is the deadliest known attack in the American airstrike campaign that began Mar. 15 under President Donald Trump.
The US military’s Central Command declined to comment when asked about civilian casualties from the strikes.
Assessing the campaign’s toll has been incredibly difficult as the Central Command so far has not released any information on the campaign, its specific targets and how many people have been killed. Meanwhile, the Houthis strictly control access to areas attacked and don’t publish information on the strikes, many of which likely have targeted military and security sites.
But the strike on the Ras Isa oil port, which sent massive fireballs shooting into the night sky, represented a major escalation for the American campaign.
The Houthis immediately released graphic footage of those killed in the attack.
In a statement, Central Command said that “US 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. It did not acknowledge any casualties and declined to comment when asked by The Associated Press regarding civilians reportedly being killed.
The Iranian-backed Houthis later Friday launched a missile toward Israel that was intercepted, the Israeli military said. Sirens sounded in Tel Aviv and other areas.
The war in Yemen, meanwhile, further internationalized as the US alleged a Chinese satellite company was “directly supporting” Houthi attacks, something Beijing declined to directly comment on Friday.
The Ras Isa port, a collection of three oil tanks and refining equipment, sits in Yemen’s Hodeida governorate along the Red Sea. NASA satellites that track forest fires showed an intense blaze early Friday at the site just off Kamaran Island, targeted by intense US airstrikes over the past few days.
The Houthis’ Al-Masirah satellite news channel aired graphic footage of the aftermath, showing corpses strewn across the site. It said paramedic and civilians workers at the port had been killed in the attack, which sparked a massive explosion and fires.
The Ras Isa port also is the terminus of an oil pipeline stretching to Yemen’s energy-rich Marib governorate, which remains held by allies of Yemen’s exiled government. The Houthis expelled that government from Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, back in 2015. However, oil exports have been halted by the decadelong war and the Houthis have used Ras Isa to bring in oil.
The Houthis denounced the US attack.
“This completely unjustified aggression represents a flagrant violation of Yemen’s sovereignty and independence and a direct targeting of the entire Yemeni people,” the Houthis said in a statement carried by the SABA news agency they control. “It targets a vital civilian facility that has served the Yemeni people for decades.”
On April 9, the US State Department issued a warning about oil shipments to Yemen.
“The United States will not tolerate any country or commercial entity providing support to foreign terrorist organizations, such as the Houthis, including offloading ships and provisioning oil at Houthi-controlled ports,” it said.
The attack follows Israeli airstrikes on the Houthis which previously hit port and oil infrastructure used by the militants after their attacks on Israel.
The suspension is a further blow in the war-torn country, where hunger has been growing. In February, the WFP said 62 percent of households it surveyed couldn’t get enough food, a figure that has been rising for the past nine months. It estimates that some 17 million people – early half Yemen’s population — are food insecure.
Carl Skau, WFP’s deputy executive director and chief operating officer, told The Associated Press that Houthis seized the warehouse in the northern region of Saada in mid-March and took around $1.6 million in supplies.
The seizure was the latest friction between the Houthis and the United Nations. The militants in recent months have detained dozens of UN staffers, as well as people associated with aid groups, civil society and the once-open US Embassy in Sanaa, Yemen’s capital.
UN agencies, including the WFP, had already halted operations in Saada, the Houthis’ stronghold, in February after seven WFP staffers and another UN worker were detained, and one of the WFP members died in prison. It continued low-level operations in other parts of Yemen under the Houthis’ control.
After the seizure of the warehouse, the WFP halted shipments of new supplies to Houthi-held areas, Skau said.
“The operating environment needs to be conducive for us to continue,” he said. “We cannot accept that our colleagues are being detained, and much less so that our colleagues are dying in detention. And we cannot accept our assets are being looted.”
“It’s something we don’t take lightly because the needs are massive,” he said. “The humanitarian implications of this are deep and extensive … It’s clear the food security situation is deteriorating.”
Yemen has been torn by civil war for more than a decade. Houthi militants hold the capital Sanaa and much of the north and center of the country, where the majority of its population of nearly 40 million live. The internationally recognized government controls the south and west.
Throughout the war, Yemen has been threatened by hunger, nearly falling into full-fledged famine. The impoverished nation imports most of its food.
Skau said the WFP is seeking Houthi permission to distribute food that remains in other warehouses in the north. He said that if UN workers are released, it could resume programs distributing food to some 3 million people in Houthi-held areas.
The WFP is also providing food assistance to some 1.6 million people in southern Yemen, areas controlled by the government and its allies.
But the organization has warned its programs there could be hurt after US President Donald Trump’s administration has cut off funding for WFP’s emergency programs in Yemen.
A WFP official said the organization was reducing its staff in Yemen, and that around 200 employees – 40 percent of its workforce – have been given a month’s notice. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the personnel situation.
“We have now a challenge in the south when it comes to the funding,” Skau said. “But we’re hoping that that can be resolved moving forward.”
