The Houthis say that the American strikes on the Yemeni oil station kill at least 58
The Houthi -running Ministry of Health says that the US air strikes on a major oil station on the Red Sea coast in Yemen, which is controlled by the Houthi movement, killed at least 74 people and wounded 171 others.
The US military said it had destroyed the head of Issa “to get rid of this source of fuel for Iranian -backed Houthi terrorists and deny them illegal revenues.”
The Houthi -led government in northwestern Yemen said the station was a civil facility and that the strikes constitute a “war crime.”
This was the bloodiest attack since President Donald Trump ordered the intensification of the American bombing campaign last month in response to the Houthi attacks on the Red Sea and Israel attacks linked to the Gaza war.
After several hours of strikes at the head of Issa, the Israeli army said it had intercepted a missile launched from Yemen.
The sirens appeared in many Israeli areas, but there were no reports on any victims or damages.
Al -Marah TV from Al -Houthi reported that 14 air strikes hit the head of Issa late on Thursday.
Videos published on the Internet showed many explosions, large fires and destroyed fuel tankers in the facility, which is located about 60 km (35 miles) north of the red city of Hudaydah.
A man said he worked there for the channel, “We fled. The strikes came one by one, then everything was burning.”
On Thursday afternoon, Houthi Ministry of Health spokesman Anis Al -Asmahi said that the death toll had reached 74, adding that the rescue teams are still looking for victims.
Al -Maswarah was previously martyred by the local health authorities as saying that many of the dead were workers in Ras Issa. He also stated that five paramedics were killed in secondary secondary strikes upon their arrival at the scene.
Injury reports cannot be verified immediately, but it seems that graphics shots of the families show at least 10 charred bodies near the burning carriers, including one driver, as well as men with dangerous burns in the hospital.
“We confirm that targeting the oil port in RAS ISA is a complete war crime, because the port is a civil facility, not a military,” the Houthi -run government said in a statement.
She warned, “We carry the American administration completely responsible for the consequences resulting from its escalation in the Red Sea.”
“The aim of these strikes is to break the economic source of the Houthi power, who continue to exploit them and bring great pain to their citizens.”
He added: “The Houthis must their Iranian masters and those who deliberately help and incite their terrorist acts knowing that the world will not accept the illegal smuggling of fuel and war materials to a terrorist organization.”
The Iranian Foreign Ministry said it has strongly condemned the strikes as “barbaric”.
On Thursday, the Houthi leader delivered a challenging speech claiming that the recent American strikes failed to stop their attacks.
Abdul -Malik Al -Houthi said that the group’s forces performed nearly 80 operations that included about 170 missiles and drones since mid -March, including 30 attacks targeting the US Harry S Truman and 26 attacks on Israel.
Yemen, through a civil war that escalated 10 years ago, was destroyed when the Houthis took control of the northwest of the internationally known government and the US -backed Saudi -led coalition in an attempt to regain its rule.
According to the fighting, more than 150,000 people fought and raised a humanitarian catastrophe, as 4.8 million people and 19.5 million – half of the population – were displaced – in need of some forms of aid.
Since November 2023, the Houthis have targeted dozens of commercial ships with missiles, drones and small boat attacks in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden. They drowned two ships, seized a third, and killed four crew members.
The Houthis said they are acting to support the Palestinians in the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, and they often claimed that they are targeting ships associated with Israel, the United States or the United Kingdom.
The Houthis were not deterred due to the deployment of western warships in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden to protect commercial ships last year, or through multiple rounds of American strikes on the military targets ordered by former President Joe Biden.
After taking office in January, Trump redesigned the Houthis as a “foreign terrorist organization” – which was removed by the Biden administration because of what he said was the need to alleviate the humanitarian crisis in the country.
Last month, Trump ordered widespread strikes on the Houthi -controlled areas and threatened that they were “completely exterminated.” Iran has also warned against arming the group – which it has repeatedly denied.
The Houthi -run authorities said that the strikes have killed dozens of civilians in recent weeks, but have reported a few victims among the group members.
Earlier this month, Trump posted a black and white video from a plane that showed a blow targeting about 70 people who gathered in a circle he knew as the Houthis. But the Houthi -run SABA news agency cited a source as saying that it was a “social visit” in Huddah Province.
Israel has also carried out air strikes against the Houthis since last July in response to hundreds of missiles and drones that the Israeli army says has been launched in the country from Yemen, most of which were dropped.
