The US military\u2019s Central Command has confirmed the strikes but declined to comment when asked about civilian casualties<\/p>\n

In a statement, Central Command said that \u201cU.S. 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

On April 9, the U.S. State Department issued a warning about oil shipments to Yemen. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe United States will not tolerate any country or commercial entity providing support to foreign terrorist organizations, such as the Houthis, including offloading ships and provisioning oil at Houthi-controlled ports,\u201d it said. <\/p>\n

The new campaign of airstrikes started after the rebels threatened to begin targeting \u201cIsraeli\u201d ships again over Israel blocking aid entering the Gaza Strip. The rebels have loosely defined what constitutes an Israeli ship, meaning many vessels could be targeted.<\/p>\n

The Houthis targeted more than 100 merchant vessels with missiles and drones, sinking two of them and killing four sailors from November 2023 until January of this year. They also launched attacks targeting American warships without success.<\/p>\n

The U.S. campaign shows no signs of stopping, as the Trump administration has also linked its airstrikes on the Houthis to an effort to pressure Iran over its rapidly advancing nuclear program.<\/p>\n