US forces carried out targeted strikes against fuel infrastructure used by the Iran-backed Houthi terrorist organization in Yemen, US Central Command (CENTCOM) announced Thursday. The operation aimed to eliminate a key source of revenue fueling the group's ongoing attacks and regional destabilization.
The Houthi-affiliated Al-Masirah TV reported that at least 17 people were killed and dozens more were injured in the US strike.
According to CENTCOM, the Houthis have been receiving material and economic support in violation of their Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) designation, which took effect on April 5. Fuel shipments have continued to arrive at the port of Ras Isa despite the designation, generating illegal profits that are “directly funding and sustaining Houthi terrorist efforts.”
“The Iran-backed Houthis use fuel to sustain their military operations, as a weapon of control, and to benefit economically from embezzling the profits from the import,” the statement read. “This fuel should be legitimately supplied to the people of Yemen.”
CENTCOM emphasized that the strikes were carefully conducted to target economic assets exploited by the Houthis, and not the people of Yemen.
“Today, US forces took action to eliminate this source of fuel for the Iran-backed Houthi terrorists and deprive them of illegal revenue that has funded Houthi efforts to terrorize the entire region for over 10 years,” the statement said.
The operation forms part of ongoing efforts to curtail the Houthis' ability to carry out attacks across the region, including in the Red Sea and on neighboring countries. CENTCOM made clear that the strike was meant “to degrade the economic source of power of the Houthis, who continue to exploit and bring great pain upon their fellow countrymen.”
In a strong warning to those who continue to support or do business with the group, the US military declared, “The Houthis, their Iranian masters, and those who knowingly aid and abet their terrorist actions should be put on notice that the world will not accept illicit smuggling of fuel and war material to a terrorist organization.”
CENTCOM reiterated that the Yemeni people deserve peace, stability, and freedom from Houthi oppression. “This strike was not intended to harm the people of Yemen, who rightly want to throw off the yoke of Houthi subjugation and live peacefully,” the statement concluded.
Thursday’s strikes are part of US air operations initiated in March against the Iran-backed Houthis. The aim is to disrupt their capacity to target international shipping and military vessels operating in strategic waterways.
US President Donald Trump recently stated that the Houthis would be “completely annihilated" and added that Iranian support would only impede but not stop the Houthis' destruction.
Trump later said that the Houthis now want peace because the US attacks on them have been very successful, while stressing that those strikes will continue for a very long time.
The Houthi rebels have upped their attacks in the region since October of 2023, having launched drones and ballistic missiles towards cities in Israel while also targeting commercial ships in the Red Sea region, in support for Gazans.
The Houthis halted their launches towards Israel with the start of the ceasefire and hostage release deal between Israel and Hamas, but began to fire missiles towards Israel again after the ceasefire concluded.