“Today, US forces took action to eliminate this source of fuel for the Iran-backed Houthi terrorists,” CENTCOM said on Thursday in a post on social media. “The objective of these strikes was to degrade the economic source of power of the Houthis,” it said.

Al Jazeera correspondent Mohammed al-Attab, reporting from Yemen’s capital Sanaa, said the US air strikes hit several different areas, but were most concentrated around the port facility.

“The first four air raids were waged while the people were working,” he said. The air raids took employees by surprise, he said, including truck drivers who were on the scene at the time.