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

What the report says

A newly unclassified Pentagon review, reported by Al Jazeera and based on a US official’s disclosure, says American strikes on Yemen’s Houthi movement killed 153 civilians and wounded 243 in 2025. The assessment was described as part of the Defense Department’s annual report on civilian casualties and was later obtained by the Associated Press after being first reported by NBC News. The figures cover three US strikes in Yemen in April, according to the article.

Al Jazeera reports that the deadliest attack was on the Ras Isa fuel port in Hodeidah governorate, where the review says 80 people were killed and 171 injured. The other strikes hit Houthi positions in and around Sanaa. US Central Command said at the time that the port strike was intended to cut off fuel and revenue used by the Houthis, while the Pentagon review concluded the attacks were more likely than not to have caused civilian harm based on intelligence, imagery and open-source material.

The findings are significant because they sharply exceed the Pentagon’s 2024 civilian-harm assessment for Yemen and add to scrutiny of US military operations under President Donald Trump. The article notes that the campaign against the Houthis began under President Joe Biden in 2023 and intensified in 2025, with Washington saying it aimed to protect Red Sea shipping and weaken Houthi military capabilities.