(VOVWORLD) - 80 people were killed and 170 others wounded in the US airstrike on Thursday on the Ras Isa oil terminal controlled by Houthi forces in western Yemen.
 Smoke rises after an airstrike in Sanaa, Yemen. (Photo: Xinhua/VNA) |
The US Central Command declined to comment on the civilian casualties, but issued a statement emphasizing that the attack was not intended to harm the people of Yemen. The US operation aimed to destroy a key fuel source for the Houthis and to cut off what Washington deems as illegal revenue that has supported Houthi activities over the past decade.
The Houthi condemned the airstrike, accusing the US of targeting a crucial civilian facility of the people of Yemen for decades. The airstrike, which occurred on April 17, marked the first US attack on a Houthi-controlled oil facility and a significant escalation in Washington’s 15-month-long military campaign against the Houthis, in response to the Houthi’s attacks on commercial vessels linked to Israel in the Red Sea.