Death toll from US overnight airstrikes on Yemeni fuel port rises to 74: Houthis (Lead)

Sanaa, April 18 (IANS) The death toll from US overnight airstrikes on the Yemeni fuel port of Ras Isa has increased to 74, with 171 others wounded, according to an update from Houthi-run health authorities on Friday.

The health authorities stated that rescue teams are working to search for victims and identify missing persons.

The strikes started late Thursday night. According to Houthi-run al-Masirah TV, the victims included workers and employees of the port, who came under violent US airstrikes while on duty.

Five paramedics were also among the casualties, said the television in an earlier report, adding that they were killed upon their arrival on ambulances at the scene, in the second wave of US airstrikes on the port that took place overnight shortly after the first.

More than 14 airstrikes on the fuel port were reported during the two waves, destroying concrete tanks storing imported fuel and igniting massive fires. The fires were extinguished within hours, said the report.

A resident confirmed to Xinhua that among the victims were employees, truck drivers, contracted workers, and civilian trainees of the port, adding that rescue teams recovering bodies and extinguishing fires were also targeted in subsequent strikes.

The port, northwest of Yemen's Red Sea city of Hodeidah, has been a main lifeline for importing fuel into the areas seized by the Houthi group. The group has controlled vast areas of northern Yemen since it started a civil war against the government in late 2014.

Earlier, US Central Command (USCENTCOM) confirmed in a statement that it struck and destroyed Ras Isa on Thursday, "to eliminate this source of fuel for" and "degrade the economic source of power" of the Houthis.

"The Houthis have continued to benefit economically and militarily from countries and companies that provide material support to a designated foreign terrorist organisation," USCENTCOM said on social media platform X. The United States redesignated the Houthi group as a terrorist organisation after President Donald Trump assumed power in January, Xinhua news agency reported.

USCENTCOM alleged that 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".

Shortly after the heavy airstrikes, Yemeni Information Minister Moammar al-Eryani blamed the targeting of the fuel port on the Houthis, accusing the militia of transforming the port "from an economic facility serving Yemenis into a centre for smuggling weapons and fuel."

Meanwhile, Minister of Oil and Minerals Saeed al-Shamasi confirmed the readiness of government-controlled ports in Aden, Nishtun, Mukalla, and Mocha to receive fuel and food shipments sufficient to meet market demands across all regions of Yemen.

In response, the Houthis denounced the strikes as "a full-fledged war crime," dismissing the US and the Yemeni government's accusations and insisting that "the port is a civilian, not a military facility".

In a statement released Friday, the Houthis said the US attacks are aimed at supporting Israel in crimes against the Palestinian people, vowing to continue their "support operations" for Palestinians. The group, meanwhile, claimed that it has successfully prevented all "Israeli navigation in the Red Sea."

It also assured citizens in northern Yemen that "the oil supply is stable," while warning that "the US crime will not pass without painful punishment."

Also on Friday, the Israeli military reported intercepting a missile launched from Yemen in the morning. The launch is believed to be made by the Houthis in retaliation for the US overnight airstrikes.

In mid-March, Trump ordered "decisive and powerful military action" against the Houthis after the group announced plans to resume attacks on Israeli targets, citing Israel's blockade of humanitarian aid to Gaza as the reason.

--IANS

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