Illustrative image. (U.S. Navy)
United States strikes against the Houthis (Ansar Allah) in Yemen killed 153 civilians and wounded another 243 last year, according to a Pentagon report.
The 12-page report, sent to the Senate Armed Services Committee on August 10 under a 2018 law requiring annual civilian casualty disclosures, detailed three incidents in Yemen last April.
A strike on April 6 in the capital, Sanaa, killed five civilians, while an April 17 strike on Ras Isa port in the western province of Hodeidah claimed the lives of 80, the report said.
The strike on the port sent huge fireballs into the sky and left tanker trucks burning at the port. The Houthis later aired footage of the aftermath on their Al-Masirah news channel, showing bodies scattered across the site. U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) said at the time that the attack was aimed at cutting off a source of fuel and revenue for the Houthis.
A third strike near the northern province of Saada, the heartland of the Houthis, on April 28 killed 47 civilians, according to the report.
The Pentagon report ultimately determined that the three strikes “more likely than not” resulted in civilian harm, based on U.S. intelligence, imagery and open-source reporting.
The report also found that condolence payments to the victims or their families were not appropriate, though it did not explain why.
And the final toll from the U.S. military campaign against the Houthis in Yemen last year could still grow. As of February, CENTCOM was reviewing another 15 incidents following reports of civilian casualties submitted by nongovernmental organizations.
The Yemen Data Project, an independent monitoring group, has put the death toll at 238 civilians, more than the Pentagon’s current count.
U.S. President Donald Trump ordered the military campaign against the Houthis in March of last year to stop the group’s attacks on Red Sea shipping. After weeks of strikes costing roughly a billion dollars, the campaign stalled. U.S. intelligence assessments found only limited, reversible damage to Houthi forces, which kept firing at commercial vessels and had shot down several American drones.
Facing an open-ended, costly fight with no clear victory in sight, the Trump administration agreed to a ceasefire brokered by Oman, which was widely viewed as a victory for the Houthis, who didn’t cease their attacks.
Despite that failure and the heavy cost to civilians in Yemen, last month Trump renewed threats to the Houthis over their decision to impose a maritime blockade on Saudi Arabia.
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