SANAA, April 18, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - The US military said it had destroyed a key Yemeni fuel port as it targets the country's Huthi rebels, who said Friday that 20 people had been killed in the strikes.

The attack on the Ras Issa fuel port aimed to cut off a source of supplies and funds for the Iran-backed Huthis, the US military said.

Washington has hammered the Huthis with near-daily air strikes since March 15 in a bid to end their attacks on civilian shipping and military vessels in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.

The rebels began their attacks in late 2023, claiming solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza.

"US forces took action to eliminate this source of fuel for the Iran-backed Huthi terrorists and deprive them of illegal revenue that has funded Huthi efforts to terrorise the entire region for over 10 years," the US Central Command (CENTCOM) said in a statement.

"The objective of these strikes was to degrade the economic source of power of the Huthis, who continue to exploit and bring great pain upon their fellow countrymen," CENTCOM said.

Ships "have continued to supply fuel via the port of Ras Issa" despite Washington designating the rebels a foreign terrorist organisation earlier this year, the military command added, without specifying the source of the fuel.

Huthi health ministry spokesman Anees Alasbahi said the preliminary death toll stood at 20, including five paramedics.

There were also "50 wounded workers and employees at the Ras Issa oil port, following the American aggression", he said on X.

"The death toll is likely to rise as body parts are still being identified," he added.

- Fireball -
In images broadcast early Friday by the rebels' Al-Masira channel, which it presented as the "first images of the US aggression" against the port, a fireball lit up the area around the ships, while thick columns of smoke rose above what appeared to be an ongoing blaze.

"Civil defence rescue teams and paramedics are making every effort to search for and extract victims and extinguish the fire," said Alasbahi.

The port lies along the west coast of Yemen on the Red Sea.

Huthi attacks have hampered shipping through the Suez Canal -- a vital route that normally carries about 12 percent of world shipping traffic -- forcing many companies into a costly detour around the tip of southern Africa.

The United States first began conducting strikes against the Huthis under president Joe Biden's administration, and his successor President Donald Trump has vowed that military action against the rebels would continue until they are no longer a threat to shipping.

On Thursday evening, France's Defence Minister Sebastien Lecornu said a French frigate in the Red Sea destroyed a drone launched from Yemen.

"Our armed forces continue their commitment to ensuring maritime freedom of movement," he said on X.

US State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce told journalists Thursday that the Chinese satellite firm Chang Guang Satellite Technology Company was "directly supporting Iran-backed Huthi terrorist attacks on US interests".

"Their actions -- and Beijing's support of the company, even after our private engagements with them -- is yet another example of China's empty claims to support peace," she said.

Bruce did not initially provide details on the nature of the company's support for the rebels, but later referred to "a Chinese company providing satellite imagery to the Huthis."