US airstrikes on Yemen killed 95 civilians and injured 192 in just one week, from April 16 to April 22, the Yemen Data Project (YDP) said in a new report.
The deadliest US airstrike hit the Ras Isa fuel port in Yemen’s Red Sea province of Hodeidah on April 17. According to the YDP, at least 80 civilians were killed and 150 were injured by the US attack.
The YDP said it recorded a total of seven munitions used in the attack and that “first responders, including civil defense and paramedics, were reportedly among the casualties in the apparent ‘double-tap’ strike.”
In 10 years of monitoring civilian harm caused by airstrikes in Yemen, the YDP said it recorded only three other air raids during the Saudi-led war that caused more civilian harm than the US attack on Ras Issa.
The US military took credit for the attack and did not claim the fuel port was a military target. US Central Command justified the massive attack on civilian infrastructure by saying the Houthis, who govern an area where about 80% of Yemenis live, “profit” off fuel that enters the port.
The other major civilian harm incident reported by YDP was an airstrike on the Farwah market in the Yemeni capital of Sanaa on April 20. The attack killed 12 civilians, including two children, and wounded 30 more.
CENTCOM denied it was responsible for the market strike, claiming a Houthi air defense missile hit the area. The Houthis, officially known as Ansar Allah, have strongly denied the US claim.
According to The New York Times, a CENTCOM spokesman said its assessment that a Houthi missile hit the market was based in part on a review of “local reporting, including videos documenting Arabic writing on the missile’s fragments at the market.”
The US military didn’t present any evidence to back up its claim, and the Times said that it reviewed local reporting and other open-source material and found “a video showing a missile fragment with Arabic writing posted to social media, however it was from a different location from the market in Sana’s Old City.”
The US bombing campaign, which Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth dubbed “Operation Rough Rider,” has taken a huge toll on civilians. From March 15 to April 22, the YDP has recorded a total of 500 civilian casualties. Of that total, 158 were killed and 342 were injured.
The Trump administration has shared virtually no details about its bombing campaign and has shown no concern for the high civilian casualties. The leaked Signal chat between Trump administration officials discussing bombing Yemen showed that top US officials celebrated an airstrike that flattened a residential building.
According to the YDP, the strike, which Vice President JD Vance called “excellent,” killed nine civilians.
While the bombing campaign has caused significant harm to civilians, it has failed to deter the Houthis, who have made clear they would only end their attacks on Israel and blockade on Israeli-linked shipping if there were a ceasefire in Gaza and an end to the Israeli blockade on the territory.
A senior member of Ansar Allah’s political bureau has said the Houthis would stop attacks on US warships if the US stopped bombing Yemen, but there’s no sign the US is considering the offer since the campaign is really about ensuring Israel can continue its genocidal war on Gaza.