U.S. military operations killed 153 civilians last year, Pentagon says

Washington’s newly released civilian casualty tally for 2025 has brought renewed scrutiny to a war-fighting apparatus reshaped by the Trump administration and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. The Pentagon’s mandated annual report, submitted to Congress, confirms that three airstrikes during Operation Rough Rider in Yemen killed 153 civilians and injured another 243. The document stands in stark contrast to the administration's assertions concerning other theaters, notably excluding any non-combatant casualties from its controversial boat-strike campaign in the Caribbean Sea and Pacific Ocean.

The timing of the disclosure coincides with congressional review of the Pentagon’s civilian-harm mitigation infrastructure. According to government officials who spoke with The Intercept, two anonymous insiders criticized the military's self-assessment, with one deeming the report a "total whitewash" and another dismissing it as "a fucking joke." Both sources spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the findings publicly.

Operation Rough Rider and the 1057 Report

Mandated under Section 1057 of the National Defense Authorization Act, the report covers military operations from the previous year. For Operation Rough Rider, the campaign against Yemen's Houthi militia conducted from March to May 2025, the military concluded that five civilians were likely killed on April 6 near Sanaa, 80 near Ras Isa Port on April 17, and another 68 near Saada on April 28. The assessments relied on U.S. Intelligence, imagery, and public reporting rather than on-the-ground site visits or interviews, according to the document.

Independent monitors have offered higher estimates. Airwars reported that at least 258 civilians may have died during Operation Rough Rider, while the Yemen Data Project placed the total civilian death toll from all U.S. Attacks in Yemen at 238, alongside 467 injuries. The Pentagon report notes that 15 additional incidents in Yemen remain under review by the military.

The first anonymous official speaking to The Intercept warned about the administrative backlog, stating:

"The idea CENTCOM still has fifteen cases on Yemen to adjudicate doesn’t bode well for the war in Iran."

Omissions and Disputed Boat Strikes

The 1057 report entirely omits casualties from the administration's campaign of boat strikes targeting suspected drug traffickers in the Caribbean and Pacific, which began in September 2025. While independent analysts and news reports indicate these operations killed or wounded roughly 120 civilians last year and 95 in 2026, the Pentagon's review asserts that zero civilians were killed in those attacks. The Trump administration has repeatedly maintained that the individuals targeted were narcoterrorists, though legal experts have questioned the legality of the strikes.

In contrast to the reported casualty figures, Pentagon representatives have defended the military's adherence to international norms. A tranche of the opening statement provided to CBS News asserted:

"The U.S. military is steadfastly committed to limiting harm to civilians, and DoW has a strong record of compliance with the law of war."

Defense Secretary Hegseth testified before Congress regarding the military's operational safeguards:

"the United States military never targets civilians, and puts constructs in place to ensure that [to] the maximum extent possible, we do not harm or hit civilians."

Erosion of Harm Mitigation Infrastructure

The release of the casualty data arrives alongside disclosures about significant reductions in the infrastructure dedicated to tracking and preventing non-combatant deaths. A report from the Civilian Protection Center of Excellence revealed that its staffing dropped from 40 civilian, military, and contractor support personnel at the start of fiscal year 2025 to just nine full-time employees by year's end. U.S. Officials told CBS News that broader budget and personnel cuts across the military's civilian harm mitigation and response program amounted to approximately a 90% reduction since early 2025.

A letter sent to Hegseth by Democratic lawmakers, including Senator Elizabeth Warren, argued that these reductions have left the department unable to fulfill its congressionally mandated responsibilities. A Pentagon inspector general report similarly concluded that civilian protection efforts had become largely inactive following administrative changes and staff departures.

Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Elbridge Colby informed the inspector general that a review of the center of excellence was scheduled for January 2026, with a separate review of the Defense Department's overall civilian casualty policy slated for completion by the end of the year. Meanwhile, pending investigations—such as a reported strike in Iran—remain subject to upcoming military evaluations and congressional oversight.