Houthi port still burning days after Israel’s attacks on Yemen

Firefighters struggled to contain a massive blaze in Yemen’s port of Hodeidah on Monday, just days after a deadly Israeli attack hit oil tanks and a power plant at the rebel-run port.

An AFP correspondent in Hodeidah said heavy flames and black smoke rose into the sky for the third day in a row following Saturday’s attack.

Firefighters appear to have made little progress and the fire appears to have spread in some parts of the port, the correspondent said, adding that there are fears that it could also reach food warehouses.

High-resolution satellite images from Maxar Technologies show flames consuming a badly damaged fuel storage area in the port of Hodeidah.

The fuel depot is operated by the Yemen Petroleum Company, which said late Sunday that the six people killed in the Israeli attack were its employees.

According to the Houthis, more than 80 other people were injured in the attack, many of them suffering severe burns.

A mourning ceremony for the victims of the attacks took place on Monday amid rising black smoke.

Their coffins were carried through the streets of Hodeida, flanked by crowds and led by a Houthi brass band.

Saturday’s attack was Israel’s first on the Arabian Peninsula’s poorest country and came in response to a Houthi drone attack that broke through Israeli air defenses the day before, killing one person in Tel Aviv.

The Houthis, who are fighting Israel as part of a regional network of Iran-backed groups, vowed a “massive” response to the attacks and threatened to attack Tel Aviv again.

According to the rebel news agency Saba, Yemeni port authorities said Hodeida was “operating at full capacity.”

“We are working around the clock to accommodate all ships and there are no concerns about the supply chain and the supply of food, medicine and oil derivatives,” port official Nasr al-Nusairi was quoted as saying by Saba on Sunday.

However, the US-based Navanti Group said the attacks on Hodeida destroyed five cranes and reduced the port’s fuel storage capacity from 150,000 to 50,000 tons.

The port of Hodeidah is a key access point for fuel imports and international aid to rebel-held areas in Yemen, a country where more than half the population is in need of humanitarian aid, according to the United Nations.

“The port of Hodeidah is a vital lifeline for the delivery of humanitarian aid to Yemen,” the International Rescue Committee (IRC) said in an emailed statement to AFP.

“Any disruption to this infrastructure jeopardizes the import of vital goods and hampers relief efforts.”

bur-ho/jsa