US airstrikes on Houthi-run fuel port in Yemen leave 74 dead, including rescuers

US military strikes on Yemen's Ras Isa fuel port yesterday morning killed at least 74 people, including civilians and rescue workers, according to the Houthi-run health ministry, in the deadliest attack since Washington launched its campaign against the Iran-backed militants.

- Peter Beaumont

The health ministry spokesperson, Anees al-Asbahi, also said 171 people were injured in the overnight strikes, as rescue workers continued to search for victims.

Some analysts see the scale of the attack, and the nature of the target—a major economic site in the country—as aimed at sending a message to Tehran in the midst of mounting pressure on Iran from the US over its nuclear programme.

While the US president, Donald Trump, has threatened to "annihilate" Yemen's Houthis, despite the continuing US air campaign, the group remains intact, and there has been deep scepticism from experts over whether Trump's military policy is achievable.

In the immediate aftermath of the US strikes, a Houthi official vowed yesterday to hit back, announcing the group had targeted two US aircraft carriers and Israel following the deadliest American strikes on Yemen in more than a year.

"The American military buildup and continued aggression against our country will only lead to more counter-attack and attack operations, clashes and confrontations," the Houthi military spokesman, Yahya Saree, told a rebel-organised protest in the capital, Sanaa.