Pentagon says US strikes killed 153 civilians in Yemen in 2025

WASHINGTON (MNTV) — A Pentagon review obtained by Congress has acknowledged that U.S. airstrikes against Houthi targets in Yemen killed 153 civilians and injured 243 in 2025, a sharp rise from the two civilian deaths the department assessed for 2024.

The unclassified assessment, prepared under a 2018 law requiring annual disclosure of civilian casualties, examined three strikes in April 2025 during the U.S. campaign against the Houthis, the Iran-aligned group that had been attacking commercial ships in the Red Sea. 

A strike in the rebel-held capital Sanaa on April 6 killed five civilians; an April 17 strike on the Ras Isa fuel port killed 80 and injured 171, the deadliest of the campaign; and an April 28 strike near Saada killed 47. 

U.S. Central Command said at the time the Ras Isa strike “was not intended to harm the people of Yemen.” Human Rights Watch has called for the port attack to be investigated as a possible war crime.

The reported toll may be incomplete: the Pentagon said 15 more incidents remain under review, and the independent Yemen Data Project has recorded 238 civilian deaths from U.S. strikes, well above the official count. 

The gap reflects the difficulty of confirming deaths in a conflict zone but also, critics say, the need for greater transparency.

The disclosure comes as civilian harm from U.S. operations faces renewed scrutiny; Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has reduced the size of a Pentagon office tasked with limiting civilian casualties. 

For Yemen — already devastated by years of war, displacement, and humanitarian crisis — the toll adds to a civilian burden that official accounting alone cannot capture.