WASHINGTON: A US military campaign aimed at weakening Iran-backed Houthi forces in Yemen has come under renewed scrutiny after a Pentagon assessment found that 153 civilians were killed and 243 injured during American operations in 2025.
Submitted to the Senate Armed Services Committee, the assessment identified three strikes that were “more likely than not” to have caused civilian harm, highlighting the human consequences of the campaign.
The US military launched Operation Rough Rider in March 2025 on President Donald Trump’s orders in response to Houthi attacks on commercial shipping in the Red Sea. The campaign continued for about three months and involved dozens of strikes across Yemen.
The Pentagon assessment identified three incidents on April 6, April 17 and April 28, 2025, as the cases most likely to have resulted in civilian casualties.
On April 6, a US strike hit a residence in Sanaa, killing five civilians and injuring 25, according to the assessment.
The April 17 attack targeted Ras Isa port, where the Pentagon said 80 civilians were killed and 171 injured. Human Rights Watch had separately reported a comparable death toll and raised concerns about the attack’s potential violation of international humanitarian law.
Read More: Yemen’s Houthis threaten to close Bab al-Mandeb Strait
A third strike near Saada on April 28 killed 47 civilians and injured 68, according to the Pentagon.
The Department of Defense said 15 additional incidents remained under review as of February 2026 following reports received from non-governmental organizations.
The latest Pentagon figures represent a sharp rise from 2024, when US military operations in Yemen were assessed to have killed two civilians and injured two others.
Independent organizations have reported higher figures. The Yemen Data Project estimated that US operations killed at least 238 civilians, including 24 children, and injured 467 others in at least 339 strikes during 2025.
Human Rights Watch also raised concerns about the Ras Isa attack, saying port workers were among those killed. The organization warned that damage to the facility could worsen Yemen’s humanitarian situation because Ras Isa handles a significant portion of the country’s commercial imports and humanitarian assistance.
The US military has maintained that its Yemen operations are intended to degrade Houthi military capabilities and respond to attacks on vessels using the Red Sea.
The Pentagon report did not include civilian casualties from US operations in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific. It said US Southern Command had found no 2025 incidents in its area of responsibility where civilian casualties were assessed as “more likely than not” to have resulted from US military operations, as of February 1, 2026.
The assessment adds to growing scrutiny of US military operations under the Trump administration, particularly over civilian protection and the legal basis for some strikes.
While the Pentagon has provided its own assessment of the casualties, significantly higher figures from independent organizations suggest that the full civilian impact of the 2025 campaign remains disputed.
