US Steps Up Houthi Campaign With Deadly Strikes on Red Sea Oil Port

(Bloomberg) -- The US attacked a key Yemen oil port controlled by the Houthis overnight and killed dozens of people, according to the Iran-backed militants, raising the specter of a widening conflict in the Middle East.

The assault on the Ras Issa fuel-import terminal appeared to be one of the biggest and deadliest since US President Donald Trump ordered an aerial campaign against the Houthis in mid-March. The strikes have so far failed to stop Houthi maritime assaults in the Red Sea and missile attacks on Israel, causing the American military to consider supporting a ground offensive on the group by Yemeni factions.

Ras Issa, located about 60 kilometers (37 miles) north of the Red Sea city of Hodeida, was hit more than a dozen times by US fighter jets. At least 74 people, most of them port workers, were killed and 171 were injured, according to Houthi-controlled health authorities in the area. Ras Issa, the main gateway for fuel coming into Houthi-held territory, suffered huge damage, the group said.

US Central Command, which oversees the American military in the Middle East, said in a statement on X that the objective “was to degrade the economic source of power of the Houthis.”

CENTCOM didn’t comment on casualties and didn’t immediately respond to a Bloomberg request for comment.

“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,” CENTCOM said on X. The Houthis “use fuel to sustain their military operations, as a weapon of control, and to benefit economically from embezzling the profits from the import.”

Until the latest incident, the Houthi health authorities said around 120 people had been killed since the first strikes on March 15. The Houthis have acknowledged that at least 40 of their fighters have been killed, including some with the rank of colonel. Their leader, Abdul Malik Al-Houthi, is still at large.

In a speech on Thursday, Al-Houthi vowed to “continue waging jihad” against “American and Israeli tyranny.”

Shortly after the attack on Ras Issa, sirens sounded across Israel because of what the country’s military described as a missile launch from Yemen. The projectile was shot down, the Israeli military said, with no reports of casualties.

Iran’s foreign ministry said the strikes on Ras Issa were “barbaric” and that the US was “an accomplice and partner in Israel’s crimes.” 

The latest escalation in US operations comes amid discussions between Washington and anti-Houthi forces in Yemen, as well as Gulf Arab states, over the possibility of mounting a Yemeni-led land offensive. The intention would be to oust the Houthis from Hodeida and possibly the capital, Sanaa, Bloomberg reported this week.

Shortly after returning to power in January, Trump designated the Houthis as a foreign terrorist organization. The start of the air strikes two months later was meant to end Houthi attacks on warships and commercial vessels — which have pushed up global freight rates — as well as missile strikes on Israel.

The Houthis have held Sanaa, Hodeida and other areas since ousting Yemen’s government around a decade ago. They say they are acting in solidarity with Palestinians and will continue until the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza ends.

The Houthis have received significant military and technical support from Tehran in recent years, but tend to act more independently than Iran’s other proxies such as Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Though the US says the strikes are also meant to put pressure on Iran, it is continuing diplomatic talks with the Islamic Republic. Those began last weekend in Oman and a second round in Rome is scheduled for Saturday. Trump has threatened military action against Iran unless it agrees to a deal that would curb its nuclear activities.

(Updates with Houthi comments on destruction at port.)

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