Paper
This report, authored by Yemen-based human rights organization Mwatana for Human Rights, found that U.S. operations in Yemen since December 2023 have resulted in hundreds of civilian casualties. The report notes that from December 2023 to May 2025, 46 United States airstrike incidents resulted in at least 576 civilian casualties: 213 people were killed and 363 were injured, including 50 children and 25 women. The bombs hit civilian structures such as homes, shops, farms, residential neighborhoods, and infrastructure, violating various rules and standards of international humanitarian law.
The paper examines two operations that were launched in response to attacks by the Houthis that targeted vessels associated with Israel or bound for Israeli ports, concurrent with the Israeli government war in the Gaza Strip that began on October 7, 2023, which was directly supported by the United States.
The first, “Operation Prosperity Guardian,” was conducted during President Joe Biden’s administration from December 18, 2023 – January 19, 2025 and resulted in five civilian deaths and 22 Injuries.
More recently, "Operation Rough Rider," carried out during President Donald Trump’s administration from March 15 – May 6, 2025, resulted in the majority of the civilian casualties cited in the paper: 208 killed and 341 injured. These figures are higher than what the Pentagon has disclosed to Congress, citing 153 civilians killed and another 243 injured during Operation Rough Rider.
To document the civilian toll, Mwatana for Human Rights’ field team conducted site visits to several airstrike locations and carried out 59 interviews with survivors, family members of victims, eyewitnesses, first responders, and other primary sources. Among the most enduring and long-term effects of the U.S. attacks on civilians are the loss of breadwinners through death or disabling injury, and the destruction of livelihoods when farms, shops, factories, workshops, and small enterprises were damaged or destroyed, notes the report. Meanwhile, U.S. airstrikes have caused severe damage to infrastructure facilities and vital installations that were targeted, further exacerbating the humanitarian suffering of affected local communities.
In the 20 years after September 11, 2001, between 363,939 and 387,072 civilians were killed by multiple warring parties in post-9/11 war zones, including 12,690 civilians in Yemen.
In the two years after October 7, the U.S. spent between $2.76 - $4.95 billion countering the Houthis in Yemen, Iran, and the wider region.