US strikes on a Yemeni oil port kill 74 people, Houthis say

US airstrikes targeting an oil port held by Yemen’s Houthi rebels killed 74 people and wounded 171 others, the group said on Friday.

The operation marks the single-deadliest known attack under President Donald Trump’s new campaign targeting the rebels.

Assessing the toll of Mr Trump’s campaign, which began March 15, has been difficult as the US military’s Central Command so far has not released any information on the campaign, its specific targets and how many people have been killed.

Meanwhile, Yemen’s Houthi rebels strictly control access to areas attacked and do not publish information on the strikes, many of which likely have targeted military and security sites.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 terrorise 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 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 internationalised as the US alleged a Chinese satellite company was “directly supporting” Houthi attacks, something Beijing declined to directly comment on.

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 on 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 bodies 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 decade-long war and the Houthis have used Ras Isa to bring in oil.