UN chief Antonio Guterres says he is ‘gravely concerned’ about US air strikes this week on Yemen.
The United States has carried out 13 air strikes on Hodeidah’s port and airport, the Houthi-affiliated TV channel Al Masirah says, two days after a US air strike targeted the Ras Isa port, also in Hodeidah, killing at least 80 people and wounding more than 150.
Al Masirah also reported Saturday that three people were killed and four injured due to a US attack on al-Thawra, Bani Matar, and al-Safiah districts in the capital Sanaa.
The Houthis have promised to carry out “more operations” despite the ongoing US attacks.
US President Donald Trump’s administration announced a major military offensive against the Houthis a few weeks ago. It said the air strikes are aimed at forcing the Houthis to stop threatening ships sailing on the Red Sea on a route crucial to international trade.
Since November 2023, the group has reportedly launched more than 100 attacks on vessels it says are linked to Israel in response to Israel’s war on Gaza and in solidarity with Palestinians.
On Friday, Houthi official Mohammed Nasser al-Atifi told Al Masirah that the “American enemy’s crimes” will not deter the Yemeni people from supporting Gaza, but “rather will strengthen their steadfastness and resilience”.
The Houthis, also known as Ansar Allah or “supporters of God”, are an armed group that controls most parts of Yemen, including Sanaa. The group emerged in the 1990s but rose to prominence in 2014 when it seized Sanaa and forced President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi to flee the country.
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres “is gravely concerned about the airstrikes conducted by the United States over the course of 17 and 18 April in and around Yemen’s port of Ra’s Isa, which reportedly resulted in scores of civilian casualties, including five humanitarian workers injured,” Guterres spokesman Stephane Dujarric said in a statement on Saturday.
Guterres expressed fears of damage to the port and “possible oil leaks into the Red Sea”, Dujarric added.
The strikes on Ras Isa aimed to cut off supplies and funds for the Houthis, the US military said. It was the deadliest attack of Washington’s 15-month campaign against the Iran-aligned group.
About 70 percent of Yemen’s imports and 80 percent of its humanitarian assistance pass through the ports of Ras Isa, Hodeidah and as-Salif.
Ras Isa also is the terminus of Yemen’s main oil pipeline, which, along with its port, are “critical and irreplaceable infrastructure” in Yemen, according to the UN Development Programme.