Trump's Yemen campaign left 153 civilians dead in three Pentagon-confirmed incidents
Trump directed the 2025 large-scale U.S. campaign against Houthi targets in Yemen. The Defense Department later assessed that three April strikes more likely than not killed 153 civilians and injured 243; 15 additional incident reports remained under assessment at the report cutoff. Amnesty International separately concluded the Sa'ada migrant-detention-center strike was indiscriminate and should be investigated as a war crime. That is a formal allegation and investigation demand, not an opened prosecution or adjudicated finding.
Entities and roles
- Operation Rough RiderU.S. strike campaign
- Donald J. Trumppresident directing the campaign
- Republic of Yemenstate where the strikes occurred
Claims and evidence
- allegationalleged
After interviews with 15 survivors and analysis of imagery, photos, and video, Amnesty International concluded the April 28 strike on the Sa'ada migrant detention center was indiscriminate and should be investigated as a war crime.
- Amnesty International: Yemen: US air strike on detention centre must be investigated as a war crimeFindings and methodology published October 29, 2025
- factdocumented
Trump reported to Congress that, at his direction, U.S. Central Command began large-scale strikes in Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen in March 2025.
- The White House: Text of a Letter from the President to the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President Pro Tempore of the SenateMarch 28, 2025 letter, second action reported to Congress
- factdocumented
The Defense Department assessed that three April 2025 Operation Rough Rider incidents more likely than not killed 153 civilians and injured 243; 15 additional Yemen incidents remained under assessment as of February 1, 2026.
- U.S. Department of Defense: Annual Report on Civilian Casualties in Connection with United States Military Operations in 2025Operation Rough Rider incident table and open-assessment discussion
Measurements
Documented civilian deaths153 people killed - Basis
- Observed
- Population
- Civilians the Defense Department assessed as more likely than not killed in three confirmed Operation Rough Rider incidents
- Period
- 2025-04-06 to 2025-04-28
- Method
- Sum of the Defense Department's incident-level assessed civilian deaths for Sanaa, Ras Isa, and Sa'ada.
- Uncertainty
- Official assessed count for three incidents only; 15 additional incident reports remained under review and are excluded.
Documented civilian injuries243 people injured - Basis
- Observed
- Population
- Civilians the Defense Department assessed as more likely than not injured in three confirmed Operation Rough Rider incidents
- Period
- 2025-04-06 to 2025-04-28
- Method
- Sum of the Defense Department's incident-level assessed civilian injuries for Sanaa, Ras Isa, and Sa'ada.
- Uncertainty
- Official assessed count for three incidents only; 15 additional incident reports remained under review and are excluded.
Documented civilian-harm incidents3 incidents - Basis
- Observed
- Population
- Operation Rough Rider incidents the Defense Department assessed as more likely than not causing civilian casualties
- Period
- 2025-04-06 to 2025-04-28
- Method
- Count of the three confirmed civilian-harm incidents listed in the Defense Department's 2025 annual civilian-casualty report.
- Uncertainty
- Fifteen additional Yemen incident reports remained under assessment as of February 1, 2026 and are excluded.
Cross-border uses of force1 campaign - Basis
- Observed
- Population
- Operation Rough Rider, the March 15 through May 6, 2025 U.S. military campaign in Yemen
- Period
- 2025-03-15 to 2025-05-06
- Method
- Counted the named campaign as one cross-border use of force, not each sortie, strike, or target.
- Uncertainty
- Campaign-level count; it should not be added to a strike-level count without a common unit definition.
Formal war-crime allegations1 formal allegation - Basis
- Observed
- Population
- Amnesty International's October 29, 2025 conclusion concerning the April 28 Sa'ada migrant-detention-center strike
- Period
- 2025-10-29 to 2025-10-29
- Method
- Counted Amnesty International's published conclusion and demand for a war-crime investigation as one formal allegation.
- Uncertainty
- This is not an official investigation, charge, prosecution, or adjudicated war-crime finding.