U.S. Airstrikes Kill 38: The number of deaths from the U.S. airstrikes carried out on Thursday against the Ras Issa oil port in Yemen rose to 38 people, with more than 100 others injured, Yemeni health officials said.

Significance

Air raids striking civilian infrastructure in Yemen are a distressing flare-up of the long-standing war there, and they have raised global concern over the attack on nonmilitary sites and the mounting toll on aid.

According to the Yemeni Ministry of Health in Al-Hudaydah province, early reports say that “according to preliminary information, 38 civilians have so far been killed and 102 others injured in the wake of Thursday night’s U.S. airstrikes on the Ras Issa port and oil facilities.” The ministry warned that the number of casualties might rise further, accounting for the scale of the bombings.

The U.S. airstrikes on Ras Issa reflect a dramatic escalation of American military activity in the region, targeting strategic infrastructure well outside of the immediate vicinity of battlefield operations.

Attacking the Ras Issa oil port — critical to Yemen’s economy and energy supply — could have lasting impacts on an already beleaguered economic and humanitarian condition in the country and may further destabilise maritime security in the Red Sea.

In-depth Analysis

Ras Issa is one of Yemen’s major oil export terminals on the Red Sea.

The port has been a flash point in the conflict because it is economically and geopolitically significant. U.S. officials have long maintained that it intervenes in Yemen when it intends to strike military objectives, but the recent attack has revived debate about the legal and moral implications of such strikes, particularly as they increasingly endanger life for civilians and the nation’s vital infrastructure.

Humanitarian agencies have long said Yemen stands on the verge of a widespread crisis, exacerbated by foreign military interventions.