U.S. Launches Major Airstrikes on Yemen Fuel Port and Houthi Sites Amid Red Sea Tensions
Ras Isa Port Destroyed as Trump Orders Escalation; Houthis Respond with Dozens of Missile Attacks.
Watan-The U.S. Central Command announced Thursday evening on X (formerly Twitter) that it had destroyed the Ras Isa fuel port in Yemen’s western Al-Hudaydah province. The post stated: “U.S. forces today took action to eliminate this fuel source used by the Iran-backed Houthis and to deprive them of illicit revenue that has funded their efforts to terrorize the entire region for over a decade.” It added: “The aim of these strikes was to weaken the economic power source of the Houthis, who continue to exploit and harm their own people.”
Meanwhile, the Houthi group announced via its Al-Masirah channel that the American aggression carried out four airstrikes on Ras Isa port in Hudaydah. The group also reported three U.S. airstrikes targeting a government complex in Al-Bayda province in central Yemen. Al-Masirah stated that “the American enemy launched three raids on the government complex in the Mukayras district of Al-Bayda,” without providing information on whether there were any casualties.
U.S. Airstrikes Target Houthi Military Sites Across Yemen
The attacks targeted weapons depots in Jabal Nuqm to the east of the capital, as well as in the Fajj Attan area to the southwest, and inside the Al-Nahdayn camp overlooking the presidential palace in southern Sanaa. Three additional strikes hit military sites in the Bani Hashish district east of Sanaa, and another strike targeted the Manakhah district to the west of the capital.
In Al-Jawf province in northeastern Yemen, U.S. aircraft launched several strikes on Houthi positions in the Al-Hazm district, the provincial capital. At dawn, military sites and weapons depots were targeted in the Takhya area of Majz district in northern Saada province, as well as in the Mayfa’a district of Dhamar province in central Yemen. Airstrikes also hit Houthi camps and military outposts in the Al-Durayhimi and Al-Tuhaita districts of coastal Hudaydah province in western Yemen.
Al-Houthi Vows Defiance Amid Intensified U.S. Strikes and Rising Civilian Toll
In this context, the Houthi leader Abdul-Malik al-Houthi stated on Thursday that the group’s total operations in April amounted to 78, carried out using 171 ballistic, cruise, and hypersonic missiles as well as drones. He added: “There are many admissions and statements expressing American and Israeli frustration at Yemen’s resilience and steadfast stance.” He continued: “What we say to the Americans is that your aggression against our country only increases our strength, enhances our military capabilities, and makes them more effective.”
Since March 15, 125 civilians have been killed and 256 wounded, most of them women and children, according to Houthi data that does not include casualties among the group’s own forces. These airstrikes follow orders from U.S. President Donald Trump for the military to launch a “major offensive” against the Houthis, accompanied by threats to “completely eliminate” the group.
However, the Houthis have ignored Trump’s threats and resumed launching attacks on targets inside Israel and at ships in the Red Sea heading there — in response to what they describe as Israel’s renewed campaign of extermination against Palestinians in Gaza since March 18.
