US CENTCOM: "We destroyed the Houthis' fuel port"

US military forces carried out an attack tonight (Thursday-Friday) against fuel facilities controlled by the Houthi rebels in the port of Ras Issa in Yemen.

According to a statement by the US Central Command, the operation is intended to directly harm the sources of income of the Iranian-backed Houthis, and to prevent them from continuing to use fuel resources to finance terrorist activities.

The Houthis continue to benefit economically and militarily from countries and companies that provide them with material support, while using fuel for military logistics, operating mechanisms of control over the population, and for financial gain from embezzling import revenues.

Despite President Trump's official declaration of the Houthis as a foreign terrorist organization, the supply of fuel through the port of Ras Issa continued, in a manner that the United States claims violates international law and directly supports terrorist activity.

"This operation is aimed at eliminating the Houthis' source of illegal income," the command said. "The goal was to harm the organization's source of economic power, without harming the citizens of Yemen – who aspire, and rightly so, to be free from the coercion imposed on them by the Houthis and to live in peace."

It was also reported that the United States is sending a clear message to the Houthis, Iran, and anyone who knowingly assists them – that the international community will not accept the continued illegal smuggling of fuel and weapons to terrorist organizations.