US strikes in Yemen killed 153 civilians in 2025, Pentagon report says

U.S. military strikes in Yemen killed 153 civilians and injured 243 others in 2025, according to a Pentagon report to Congress detailing civilian casualties from American military operations.

The report, submitted under a 2018 law requiring annual disclosures of civilian casualties, identified three U.S. operations in Yemen that were assessed as “more likely than not” to have caused civilian harm. Fifteen additional incidents remain under review following reports received through nongovernmental organizations.

U.S. Central Command said its mission in Yemen was aimed at degrading the capabilities of Iran-backed Houthi forces that threaten regional partners and maritime security in the Red Sea, the Bab el-Mandeb Strait and the Gulf of Aden, while protecting U.S. and coalition personnel and interests.

Sailors from the navy of Yemen’s Aden-based internationally recognised government stand at machine-gun positions aboard a vessel patrolling a shipping lane off Hanish Island in the Red Sea, July 27, 2026. (AFP Photo)

Pentagon details three deadly April strikes

A U.S. airstrike in Sanaa on April 6, 2025, killed five civilians and injured 25, according to the Pentagon assessment.

A second strike at Ras Isa port on April 17 killed 80 civilians and injured 171 others, the report said.

Human Rights Watch has called for the Ras Isa attack to be investigated as a possible war crime, saying the strike caused extensive civilian harm and damage to critical port infrastructure.

The Pentagon report contains conflicting figures for a third strike near Saada on April 28. Its summary table lists 68 civilians killed and 47 injured, while the accompanying written assessment says 47 civilians were killed and 68 injured.

The report’s overall assessment states that U.S. military operations in 2025 resulted in 153 civilian deaths and 243 injuries.

For each of the three Yemen incidents, the Pentagon said witness interviews and site visits were not conducted by the units involved because of the contested operating environment. Assessments instead drew on U.S. intelligence, imagery and open-source reporting. The report said ex gratia payments were determined not to be appropriate in the three cases.

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Independent monitor puts civilian deaths at 238

The Yemen Data Project, an independent monitoring group, has estimated that 238 civilians were killed, higher than the Pentagon’s official count.

The Pentagon said its casualty figures are based on assessments in which available information indicates it is more likely than not that civilian harm resulted from U.S.-operated weapons.

As of Feb. 1, 2026, U.S. Southern Command assessed that no 2025 incidents in its area of responsibility had more likely than not resulted in civilian casualties from U.S. military operations. The command had recently launched operations targeting groups the report described as “narco-terrorists.”

The Hill reported that the finding included U.S. strikes on suspected drug-trafficking boats in the Caribbean and Pacific.

August 12, 2026 10:39 AM GMT+03:00