Pentagon Says 153 Civilians Killed In 2025 Yemen Airstrikes
The Pentagon told Congress that U.S. strikes in Yemen killed 153 civilians in 2025, the Defense Department said in a civilian-casualty report it submitted Monday, August 10, 2026.[1]
The report found 243 people were injured and said all the civilian deaths and injuries came from three April strikes near Sanaa, Ras Isa Port and Saada.[1] The military said it reached the assessments using intelligence, imagery and public reporting, and it did not conduct site visits or interviews, the report shows.[1]
Annual U.S. military-linked civilian deaths plunged to one in 2023 and two in 2024 after the Afghanistan withdrawal, but rose again in 2025 with the Yemen operations, the report noted.[1] The report also did not count about 120 deaths in 2025 and 95 in 2026 from U.S. airstrikes on small boats targeting alleged cartel traffickers, the Pentagon said.[1]
Pentagon officials said they are still assessing 15 other reported civilian-harm incidents in Yemen linked to Operation Rough Rider.[1] The new tally comes as Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's Pentagon has cut staff and budgets for the Civilian Protection Center of Excellence and related mitigation efforts, the report says.[1]
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📌 Key Facts
- On Monday, August 10, 2026, the Pentagon submitted its 2025 civilian-casualty report to Congress, later obtained by CBS News.
- The report finds that U.S. strikes in Yemen under Operation Rough Rider killed 153 civilians and injured 243 in 2025, all from three April strikes near Sanaa, Ras Isa Port and Saada.
- The military assessed those incidents as civilian casualties based on intelligence, imagery and public reporting, without conducting site visits or interviews.
- The report does not count about 120 deaths in 2025 and 95 in 2026 from U.S. airstrikes on small boats in the Caribbean and Pacific targeting alleged cartel traffickers.
- The Pentagon says it is still assessing 15 other reported civilian-harm incidents in Yemen linked to Operation Rough Rider.
- Annual U.S. military-civilian deaths dropped to one in 2023 and two in 2024 after the Afghanistan withdrawal but rose again in 2025 with Yemen operations.
- The new tally coincides with budget and personnel cuts to the Civilian Protection Center of Excellence and related civilian-harm mitigation efforts under Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
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