A Pentagon review of US airstrikes against Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen last year found that over 150 civilians were killed, an assessment sent to Congress as part of an annual report on civilian casualties showed on Wednesday.
It comes as worries about civilian casualties during Trump administration military campaigns are growing, including from lawmakers in Congress, after a US missile struck an Iranian primary school in the opening days of this year’s war, killing up to 168 people.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is said to have slashed the size of an office focused on reducing civilian harm, according to an AP report.
Review focused on three airstrikes in April 2025
The Pentagon review focused on three airstrikes in April 2025 that were launched during the US campaign against the Houthis. The militants were attacking commercial ships in the Red Sea, a crucial global trade route that leads to the Suez Canal and into the Mediterranean, as well as Israel.
Those strikes targeted hostile forces in or near Yemen’s rebel-held capital city of Sanaa as well as the Ras Isa port, the report said. A total of 153 civilians were killed and 243 were injured.
The strike on the port was the most deadly, killing 80 people and injuring 171 others. It sent massive fireballs billowing skyward and turned tanker trucks into burning wrecks. The Houthis aired graphic footage of the aftermath on their al-Masirah satellite news channel, showing corpses strewn about the port.
The US Central Command, which oversees military operations in the Middle East, said at the time that the “strike was not intended to harm the people of Yemen.”
“US forces took action to eliminate this source of fuel for the Iran-backed Houthi terrorists and deprive them of illegal revenue that has funded Houthi efforts to terrorise the entire region for over 10 years,” US Central Command said in its statement in April 2025.
The command determined that the three strikes “more likely than not” resulted in civilian harm, the review said. The information was based on US intelligence sources, imagery and open-source reporting.
Controversy over condolence payments to victims
It was determined that condolence payments were not appropriate for the three strikes, according to the Pentagon’s review, which did not explain why that was the case.
Such payments may be one of several responses when US military operations injure or kill a civilian, the review stated, adding that they’re not required by law and not an admission of wrongdoing.
Such payments are not unheard of. Following an errant drone strike in Afghanistan that killed 10 people, seven of them children, in 2021, the Pentagon said it was committed to offering condolence payments to relatives.
The US military first launched attacks against the Houthis in 2023, during the Biden administration, after the militants started launching drones and missiles at commercial ships in the Red Sea.
The Houthis said the attacks were aimed at stopping Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza and supporting the Palestinians, though they occurred as the Houthis tried to strengthen their position in Yemen.
The US-led campaign against the Houthi rebels turned into the most intense running sea battle the Navy had faced since World War II, US military leaders and experts told the AP in 2024. American fighter jets and Navy destroyers shot down Houthi drones and missiles that were launched at commercial vessels and U.S. warships.
The Houthis now are carrying out a growing number of strikes against government forces in Yemen and oil facilities in neighboring Saudi Arabia, which supports the Yemeni government, and the kingdom’s shipping in the Red Sea.
Fears are growing that the renewed violence could reignite Yemen’s civil war following a 2022 truce and open a new front in the Middle East war.
Additional sources • AP