The Pentagon has formally acknowledged that US military operations in Yemen killed 153 civilians and injured 243 others in 2025, providing the first official accounting of the civilian toll from three US airstrikes carried out during the Trump administration’s Operation Rough Rider.

The figures, included in a Pentagon assessment submitted to Congress, cover three strikes in April 2025. The military concluded that civilian harm was “more likely than not” in each of the incidents.

According to the assessment, five civilians were killed near Sana’a on April 6, 80 people were killed near Ras Isa Port on April 17, and another 68 were killed near Saada on April 28. The Pentagon's assessment relied on US intelligence, imagery and publicly available information and did not include site visits or interviews with witnesses.

The admission has renewed criticism over the human cost of Washington’s military campaign in Yemen. The Pentagon's figure represents only the casualties it has formally confirmed and does not necessarily reflect the full scale of civilian harm.

Airwars, an organization that tracks civilian casualties in conflict zones, documented at least 224 civilians allegedly killed by US strikes during Operation Rough Rider, substantially higher than the Pentagon's confirmed figure. It also recorded hundreds of additional alleged injuries.

Airwars said the eight-week campaign produced an unusually high rate of civilian harm compared with previous US military operations in Yemen, with some of the deadliest incidents involving densely populated areas.

The US launched Operation Rough Rider in March 2025 against Yemen's Houthi movement, saying the campaign was intended to degrade its military capabilities and restore freedom of navigation in the Red Sea. US Central Command said during the campaign that hundreds of targets had been struck.

The campaign ended with a ceasefire in May 2025. Despite the intensity of the bombing campaign, the conflict surrounding Red Sea shipping and Yemen's role in the wider regional confrontation remained unresolved.

For Yemenis, the Pentagon's admission adds another official acknowledgment of the devastating consequences of foreign military intervention in a country that has endured years of war, economic hardship and humanitarian crisis.

The disclosure is also likely to intensify calls for greater accountability over civilian casualties and for an independent examination of US strikes that caused deaths and destruction among Yemen's civilian population. (ILKHA)