US military operations killed 153 civilians and injured 243 others in 2025, according to a Pentagon report that attributed the entire confirmed toll to three air strikes in Yemen.

The findings represent a sharp increase from 2024, when the Pentagon concluded that its operations had killed two civilians and injured two others.

US Central Command assessed that civilian harm “more likely than not” resulted from the three strikes, which were conducted in April 2025 as part of Washington’s campaign against the Iran-aligned Houthis.

A strike near the Yemeni capital, Sanaa, on 6 April killed five civilians and injured 25, according to the report. An attack on Ras Isa port on 17 April killed 80 and injured 171.

The report’s casualty table says a third strike near Saada on 28 April killed 68 civilians and injured 47. A paragraph immediately below the table reverses those figures, saying 47 were killed and 68 injured.

The report’s overall totals — 153 killed and 243 injured — correspond to the figures in the table, indicating that 68 deaths and 47 injuries were intended for the Saada strike. Contemporary accounts from Yemeni authorities also reported 68 deaths.

The Saada attack struck a detention centre holding African migrants. The Ras Isa strike hit a fuel port. Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International previously questioned the legality of the attacks and called for independent investigations.

The Pentagon said its assessments used US intelligence, imagery and publicly available reports. The military units involved did not conduct site visits or interview witnesses, citing the contested conditions in the affected areas.

For each of the three attacks, the report said an ex gratia payment — a payment offered as sympathy or goodwill without admitting legal liability — had been judged inappropriate.

Airwars, an independent organisation monitoring civilian harm, documented at least 224 civilians reportedly killed during the wider US campaign in Yemen between March and May 2025. Its figure covers more incidents than the three acknowledged in the Pentagon report.

Central Command was still examining 15 additional incidents in Yemen as of 1 February 2026, following reports submitted by non-governmental organisations.

The Pentagon said its mission in Yemen was to weaken Houthi capabilities that threaten regional partners and shipping in the Red Sea, Bab el-Mandeb Strait and Gulf of Aden.

The report recorded no civilian casualties from US military operations in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific, where President Donald Trump’s administration has attacked vessels it accuses of transporting drugs. The administration describes those targeted as “narco-terrorists”.

More than 200 people have been killed in those attacks since September 2025, according to a Reuters tally based on the figures announced after each strike. The Pentagon document does not identify those killed or provide evidence establishing that they were combatants.

Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International have described the vessel attacks as extrajudicial killings, arguing that suspected drug trafficking is a law-enforcement matter and does not make people lawful military targets.

The Pentagon said the US military remained “steadfastly committed” to limiting civilian harm. Its assessments of the 15 additional incidents in Yemen had not been completed when the report was submitted to Congress.