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A Fresh Reminder of the Rights of Victims of US Military Operations to Redress and Accountability
Commenting on reports published by Reuters and the Associated Press on Wednesday, August 12, 2026, regarding the US Department of Defense (Pentagon) admitting—in a report submitted to Congress—the killing of 153 civilians and the injury of 243 others in three US airstrikes in Yemen during April 2025, Mwatana for Human Rights stated that these consecutive reports serve as a fresh reminder of the hundreds of civilian victims of US military operations launched in Yemen between 2023 and 2025. This is in addition to the victims of military operations conducted within the framework of the "War on Terrorism" since 2002 and spanning over two decades, emphasizing their right to acknowledgment, redress, and accountability.
Radhya Al-Mutawakel, Chairperson of Mwatana for Human Rights, said: "For more than two decades of its numerous military operations in Yemen, successive US administrations have evaded taking any serious steps to investigate what independent human rights reports have documented and revealed regarding the horrific violations suffered by hundreds of Yemeni civilian victims, and to bear their legal and moral responsibility in accordance with International Humanitarian Law and International Human Rights Law”.
Al-Mutawakel emphasized: "Any serious steps by the United States of America to acknowledge the victims, provide them with redress, ensure accountability for the violations committed against them, and guarantee non-repetition in the future, represent the bare minimum of the inherent rights of civilian victims—rights that are absolute and not subject to any statute of limitations".
Mwatana for Human Rights has documented at least 576 civilian casualties, including 213 killed and 363 injured—among them 50 children and 25 women—resulting from 46 US airstrikes targeting areas controlled by Ansar Allah Armed Group (Houthis) in Yemen. These strikes occurred during Operation "Prosperity Guardian," conducted under the administration of President Joe Biden from December 18, 2023, to January 19, 2025, and Operation "Rough Rider," carried out under the administration of President Donald Trump from March 15 to May 6, 2025. Both operations were launched in response to missile and drone attacks by Ansar Allah Armed Group (Houthis) on vessels and tankers linked to Israel or bound for its ports via the Red Sea and the Bab al-Mandab Strait, coinciding with the Israeli war on the Gaza Strip that began on October 7, 2023, with direct support from the United States.
The damage resulting from the US attacks was not limited to direct human casualties; the airstrikes also inflicted severe damage on critical civilian infrastructure and essential service facilities, including homes, shops, farms, and residential neighborhoods. This has exacerbated the suffering of the population, particularly in areas already plagued by shortages of clean water, electricity, and health services. Amid the economic collapse and the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Yemen, this destruction has heightened the burdens borne by affected families and communities, including the loss of income sources and breadwinners, alongside wide-ranging economic, psychological, social, and communal impacts on the population.
In partnership with the Open Society Foundations, Mwatana for Human Rights had previously documented 10 US drone strikes between May 17, 2012, and September 16, 2014. These strikes resulted in the killing of 26 civilians, including one woman and five children, and the injury of 16 others, including six children. The rising number of civilian casualties and the absence of effective accountability mechanisms contributed to mounting criticism of US policy, including from human rights organizations and members of the US Congress. Furthermore, Mwatana documented 12 US attacks in Yemen between January 2017 and January 2019, which killed at least 38 Yemeni civilians—including 13 children, six women, and 19 men—and injured at least seven civilians, including six children (five of whom were under the age of ten) and one man.
On November 30, 2023, Mwatana for Human Rights, in partnership with the Human Rights Clinic at Columbia Law School, sent a letter to the US Secretary of Defense. The letter called for opening serious investigations into the civilian harm documented by the organization, enhancing transparency, acknowledging the victims, providing redress, and ensuring accountability. This followed previous submissions by Mwatana for Human Rights and the Columbia Law School Human Rights Clinic detailing civilian harm in 12 US military operations that occurred between 2017 and 2019.
In a written response dated April 20, 2021, the US Central Command (CENTCOM) acknowledged only one civilian death resulting from a drone strike on January 22, 2019, and reiterated its previous acknowledgment of 12 civilian deaths. However, CENTCOM failed to offer any redress measures to the grieving families for the lives it admitted to mistakenly taking, nor did it take any further steps toward pursuing accountability and justice.
Mwatana for Human Rights renews its call on the United States of America to assume its responsibility to conduct independent, thorough, and effective investigations into civilian harm resulting from its military operations in Yemen. It further urges the US to make relevant information publicly available, explicitly acknowledge the victims, provide redress, hold those responsible for these violations accountable, and commit to guarantees of non-repetition.
